CREJ

Page 16 — Office & Industrial Quarterly — March 2021 www.crej.com OFFICE — TRENDS D esign and construction trends always are evolving, sometimes more rapidly in specific sectors, which is what we are seeing with the office market now. Many offices along the Front Range still are expe- riencing reduced occupancy, any- where from 30% to 50%, depending on the location. Given this reality, construction industry profession- als need to evaluate and anticipate the workplace trends that will be in high demand, in both the short and long term. While it’s unclear how COVID- 19-related changes to the office environment will develop over the next several years, we can be cer- tain that offices will need to be able to adapt to serve future workers, whatever new or changing needs arise. Flexible floor plans are a critical need, particularly now as employ- ers work to accommodate changing density standards and distancing requirements. Similarly, cleaning systems – both for surfaces and the air – are being prioritized, all to keep offices clean and safe. The need for space that encourages col- laboration and engagement remains high, although distancing guide- lines are forcing designers to be creative and think outside the box to create more functional use than we’ve seen in the past. We can’t anticipate what the office market will look like once the pandemic is behind us, but we do know demand will be highest for offices that offer adaptable features with flexibility to evolve with the times. Construc- tion industry pro- fessionals should prioritize these goals to build next-generation workspaces. n Office features are changing with the times. Kiewit currently is constructing a new regional complex for its Colorado- based staff in the city of Lone Tree. In the last year, several changes were made to ensure the campus includes offices equipped with the safety and design features required to support a healthy, efficient and thriving work environment. Located in the master-planned community of RidgeGate, the project includes roughly 400,000 square feet of office space across two buildings along with a parking structure. Construction was well underway in 2020 when the indus- try saw an immediate reshuffling of priorities to accommodate safety features and density standards in the office environment as a result of the pandemic. The adaptions made to Kiewit’s regional headquarters are not unique; many, if not all, of our cli- ents in the office market are pri- oritizing the same needs coming out of the pandemic, with similar demand for features that will help guarantee safe, flexible and collab- orative workspaces. n Trends in office features that will stick around following the pandemic. With the sudden shift of density goals, open-space office concepts that provided high-density solu- tions might now fall short in sup- porting required distancing stan- dards. Those in the construction industry are identifying ways to integrate suitable parameters of space that aim to keep employees safe, while still leveraging some of the benefits of the open office, like the potential for reconfigura- tion. This includes use of modular furniture and wall systems, and other semipermanent and flexible solutions to divide workspaces and configure high-, medium- and low- density environments depending on the need. Other COVID-19-related impacts to norms in how office spaces will be used – like increased telecommuting and heightened need for collaborative spaces – will emphasize the importance of flex- ible and adaptive floor plans. Another important need is the cleanability and sterilization of Embrace flexibility to build the office of the future O ver the next 12-18 months, as workplaces transition back to in-person work from remote work, we will have the opportunity to rethink our workplaces. One thing that employers should consider is add- ing (or improving) mothers’ rooms. Mothers’ rooms – also referred to as nursing rooms or lactation rooms – are dedicated spaces in a workplace where breastfeeding employees can comfortably, conveniently and pri- vately express breast milk while at work. A 2019 survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Man- agement suggests that mothers’ rooms are growing in popularity across the U.S., with nearly half of surveyed workplaces providing a mothers’ room or similar space. This widespread recognition of working mothers in the U.S. work- force is a wonderful development! However, it does leave an estimated half of U.S. workplaces without any dedicated space for breastfeed- ing employees to express milk. Additionally, those numbers don’t account for the quality of those spaces that employers have desig- nated as a mothers’ room. As we approach this “reset” of office life, I encourage any employ- ers who do not currently provide a mothers’ room in their workspace to add one. Secondly, I encour- age those employers who do pro- vide mothers’ rooms on site to investigate whether those rooms adequately serve the needs of their breastfeeding employees. This second step is critical because I am certain that for many workplaces, “mothers’ room” is synonymous with “old storage closet that we cleaned out and added an armchair.” (I am certain because this was my first mothers’ room experience.) Why would an employer convert a storage room and consider this satisfactory? Part of the rea- son is due to how the law defines a mothers’ room. According to federal law, an employer must provide a “place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.” State law in Colorado expands on this, adding that an employer must make “reasonable efforts to provide a private space near the employee’s work area for expressing breast milk, which cannot be a toilet stall.” Because this is law, the stan- dard of care as an architect obliges me to inform my clients of this requirement when I am designing a work environment. Based on legal requirements, the most basic moth- ers’ room offers privacy, is free from intrusion and provides seating, an elevated flat surface for equipment and an electrical outlet. However, my approach as an architect always is to think beyond the basic requirements and con- sider the real needs of the building user. So, when working with a cli- ent in designing a new workplace, I nudge them to think beyond the basics and consider the ideal moth- ers’ room. What do we add to the basic mothers’ room to make it ideal? First, we add a food-prep sink for handwashing and wash- ing pumping parts and bottles. This allows women to avoid any awkward kitchen moments with colleagues while washing up after pumping. Second, we add a small refrigerator for milk storage. Like- wise, this means that breast milk stays out of the communal kitchen refrigerator. (Plus, this small refrig- erator can be used by other employ- ees for other temperature-sensitive items that likewise don’t belong in the shared kitchen fridge.) Then we take a close look at how the space provides privacy. For many women, the act of pump- ing breast milk requires visual and audible privacy and a relaxing setting, with the aim of reducing pumping anxiety. We can promote privacy by locating this space in an area of the office that is not highly trafficked, while still being accessible and convenient. Locking door hardware with an occupancy indicator allows women to feel safe from intrusion (and avoid the dreaded “door rattle”). Paying atten- tion to lighting, finishes, artwork and other hardware (such as coat hooks) raises the quality of this space even further. The accompany- ing image offers a more complete overview of the systems, furniture, fixtures and equipment you would find in the ideal mothers’ room. Mothers’ rooms make big impact in small spaces Michael Brumley Project executive, Kiewit Building Group Inc. Kasia Bulkowski, AIA, NCARB, WELL AP Architect, MOA Architecture MOA Architecture A recently completed mothers’ room in the Amy Davis Hospice Support Center Please see Bulkowski, Page 18 John Hoffman, Kiewit Corp. Office spaces can be reconfigured easily by using modular office wall systems like those pictured here inside Kiewit’s regional headquarters in the city of Lone Tree. Please see Brumley, Page 18