Undensification of the workplace

Over the years we have all witnessed this trend ... but as we re-engage within our workplaces ... we will still need 6 feet of physical distancing. Further down is an excellent article by Gensler which discusses this.

The trend we see is the prioritization of health, wellness, cleanliness and architectural elements. Floor plate utilization will become a critical consideration in office environments as we will continue to practice physical distancing and need more space for the same number of people. We can cycle people in and out of the office to keep office numbers down, set up plenty of sanitation stations, rethink unassigned seating, upgrade air filtration, add antimicrobial materials, empower physical work decision making, invest in technology and even purchase or lease more space.

I have personally witnessed some buildings where floor space along the south and west interior perimeters were so uncomfortable that they were unusable as caused by unwanted solar heat gain and glare. As the office became busier and people were added, this space became used by adding blinds that were always in the closed position. I even saw one office where they used beach type umbrellas over work spaces to fight glare and solar heat gain. There are solutions for this in glass technologies that eliminate unwanted solar heat gain and glare, yet views and connectivity to the outside are retained as is highly desired for our physical and mental health.

Our glass technologies can allow you to gain usable floor space!!

3D interlayers that control sunlight before it can enter the building, called Okatech and Okasolar, keeping views controlling sunlight.

Diffusing interlayers that diffuse, direct and control sunlight before it can enter the building Kapilux (keeping views) and Okalux with no views through it,

Halio electrochromic glass that in seconds change tint levels, constantly tuning your building's performance to maximize natural light into the building, eliminating glare and unwanted solar heat gain while retaining views to the outside.

Here is the Gensler article ...

https://www.gensler.com/research-insight/blog/what-happens-when-we-return-to-the-workplace