Citizen architects during COVID-19

By Katelyn Rossier, AIA

A “citizen architect” has typically focused on the call to action for architects to take a greater role in civic advocacy for our communities. The AIA Citizen Architect Handbook focuses on encouraging civic engagement through three main categories:

• Private-sector architects licensed in the U.S. with an established portfolio of accomplishment in distinguished public facilities.
• Architects employed in the U.S. public sector or in U.S. government agencies that manage or produce public architecture.
• Public officials or private individuals advocating for or furthering public awareness and appreciation of quality public architecture.

Architects and engineers are natural citizen architects, even if not all of us sit on a board of directors or a national committee or hold public office. Every one of us is committed not only to the design and experience of the community within the built environment, but also to giving back to the community, leading policy changes, and being a civic leader every day. During unprecedented times, like the COVID-19 pandemic, each of us in this profession can make a difference by being natural civic leaders beyond the traditional public-office sense. We are an agile profession that is ready to step up to whatever the world and our communities need.

Quick to Act
As the pandemic escalated in hot spots around the United States, architects, planners, and engineers were called upon to help transform large commercial facilities into temporary field hospitals. These were quick actions taken by local firms working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. SmithGroup has been a part of a number of requests like this with a turnaround time of just a matter of days to develop a plan. The Los Angeles Convention Center was highlighted in an Architect magazine post, “These Architects Are Addressing COVID-19 Health Care Infrastructure Capacity.” These facilities have been transformed to deal with the overflow capacity that hospital systems are experiencing but also to service the safety needs of the staff, having zones of negative pressure for the most critical patients. These plans also focused on the need to change these venues back to their original state once they are no longer needed as medical facilities. For instance, restrooms and showers are raised (some in trailers) so that all the plumbing is run above the existing floors. This allows the facilities to be constructed quickly and leave no damage to the structure.



Innovators
As creative minds and innovators, we naturally think of how our office technologies can help our clients, as well as the community. SmithGroup offices and those of other design firms, universities, and even individuals are helping with the need for personal protective equipment (PPE). Several of SmithGroup’s offices are creating face shields like the image below. This involves repurposing resources, like 3D printers, to create something that the community needs. Staffers have also made cloth face masks during their time at home with family. What types of tools does your office have that you can use to help beyond this pandemic? Is there a need in your community that your office can support? The pandemic has shown that there are a variety of ways architects can help the community beyond being part of a public office or a board.

Re-engineering
An article by SmithGroup engineers George Karidis and Rob Thompson, “Climate-Informed HVAC Increases in Relative Humidity May Fight Pandemic Viruses” reviews how existing HVAC systems can be modified to help hospitals mitigate the virus’s spread. They review the connection between relative humidity and shorter airborne and surface survival times. There are some facilities that can adjust easily to changing their relative humidity to the ideal range of between 40 and 60 percent, but it depends on the system, location, and time of year.



The virus may resurge in the fall. This is something we can prepare for now, giving hospital systems months of opportunity to upgrade their systems, if needed, to get the relative humidity to that range before it is needed. It is up to us as architects and engineers to have the conversation with hospital systems, review their HVAC capabilities, and provide a solution that can be implemented before a resurgence or a new pandemic.

The implications of COVID-19 will change the way we design the world around us as much as 9/11 changed airport design. Health care facility design changes over the coming months and years will have a domino effect into the designs of schools, workplaces, and other types of new buildings and renovations. What kind of changes in design and requirements do you think we will see based on this pandemic?

Author Bio:

Katelyn Rossier, AIA
Katelyn is an architect at SmithGroup in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Kent State University, and manages the blog, mentorarchitect.com.