I am looking for examples of (public) building adaptation or transformation in response to COVID-19. I am interested in both temporal and permanent change.
Example:
City’s exhibition center in Berlin converted to a 500-bed temporary hospital in anticipation of a potential surge in coronavirus patients (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/berlin-builds-500-bed-virus-hospital-it-hopes-won-t-be-needed).
I look forward to your tips!
"5 Ways to Optimize Buildings for COVID-19 Prevention"
https://centerforactivedesign.org/5-ways-to-optimize-buildings
Lilian Mboya thank you for your comment. Are you familiar with specific examples, where these measurements have been already implemented?
Aryan Shahabian thank you for your recommendation. Do you know about any specific examples?
Have a look at Canadian builing standards and Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) standards- CSA Z8000 for Hospitals and https://ipac-canada.org/. Much of what is being rproposed as new and innovative has already been implemented for 10-15 years due to the Canadian experience with SARS. Temporary facilities were limited as most Provinces have Pandemic plans and new buildings designed to suit. However we do have aging infrastructure so older facilties were definitely challenged leading to the creation of Field Hospitals. Many have not been needed.
In public spaces not related to Healthcare I am seeing them adopt concepts from Acute Care. This looks like HVAC solutions and focusing on surfaces that can be cleaned easily through simple methods. Increased cleaning fequencies and disinfecting. so chemical resistance and durability is important Although with proper cleaning disinfecting is only required in certain spaces and/or during an active outbreak. We Canadians like to plan for the worst so I see us making sure how spaces are able to handle an outbreak or creating outbreak zones so that essential services and work can be performed safely during these times.
In South Africa the CSIR has created a standards document, and a number of convention centres and old hospitals have been converted to isolation facilities eg https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-07-04-100-days-into-lockdown-and-covid-19-will-soar-this-is-what-you-can-expect/
Hello Igor
This looks interesting.
Here in India, many stadiums specially indoor ones, public, educational institute buildings have been made ready for accommodating patients and also as quarantine center.
A large hall in the new international fair zone in Cairo - Egypt was transferred into the largest COVID-19 isolation hospitals in the country
The cabins of Sambão do Povo (place for the parades of the samba school), in Vitória, Brazil, is being used as a Quarantine Center during the Covid-19 pandemia. The service is aimed at bedridden elderly people who need care, homeless people, people with disabilities or people who live in a space where many people live (https://g1.globo.com/es/espirito-santo/noticia/2020/06/17/camarotes-do-sambao-do-povo-vao-abrigar-pacientes-com-covid-19-em-vitoria.ghtml, in Portuguese).
I think it could be interesting to see the changes in cleaning/maintenance schedules during this time. For one thing, the use of detergents and alcohol for disinfecting surfaces. This could have long term effects on building material conditions and of course human health in indoor spaces (example the excessive use of chlorine)
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/cleaning-disinfecting-public-spaces.html
I would recommend reading Stewart Brand's "How buildings learn". It is old but is very relevant to this topic.
Sulaem Musaddiq Laskar
Hello Sulaem,
thank you for your answer. Can you please share links to some examples? I am not really familiar with relevant sources in India :-)
Sherif Goubran
It is an interesting idea ... if it is possible to achieve sufficient cleanliness with non-toxic cleansers
Mahsa Khatibi
Hello Mahsa, thank you for the tip! I also found that it was made as a TV series (https://www.youtube.com/user/brandst/videos) ... in case someone would be interested.
Hello Igor,
This may be helpful:
https://sportstar.thehindu.com/other-sports/sports-venues-stadium-turned-into-covid-19-centres-hospitals-india-mumbai-delhi-chennai-kolkata-bengaluru/article32080496.ece/photo/1/
Regards
I recall reading that that a few cities in the US acquired old-fashioned, single story motels as possible isolation facilities.
As far as permanent change is concerned, most of this will only emerge next year or the year after.
for temporary
see these links:
https://www.9news.com.au/world/coronavirus-europe-hospitals-pressure-icu-medical-supplies-covid-19-news/60b4ef0f-fcf7-468e-9db9-93b6902b66ef
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/calls-to-separate-coronavirus-patients-to-slash-in
https://whyy.org/segments/coronavirus-at-temple-university-hospital/
https://theconversation.com/hospital-beds-and-coronavirus-test-centres-are-needed-fast-heres-an-australian-designed-solution-136041