Pandemic Predicament: Church Design – Part 2 of 5
The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined daily life. From working environments to required face coverings to food delivery to entertainment, the effects and aftermath of social distancing may be here to stay for a very long time. These are unchartered waters and architecturally speaking, will no doubt have an impact on the design of future gathering spaces. Therefore, it is incumbent on the architectural community to look for ways to not only mitigate virus transmission, but to design safer gathering spaces.
In this blog post series, we’ll look at several key areas within the church campus where design can have a major impact on the occupants’ safety and protection from transmitting and/or contracting COVID-19 or other viruses.
As churches begin to reopen, federal, state, city and county health and safety guidelines are in place to help prevent new cases of COVID-19. But beyond best-practices of hand sanitizer stations, daily deep cleaning, and seating people six feet apart, what else is worth considering in terms of indoor spaces.
Considerations for the Lobby & Common Areas:
Allow as many doors as possible for entry and exit in order to spread people out.
Provide or modify door hardware to be touchless or hands-free where possible or allowed by the building code.
Post COVID-19 transmission signage in prominent locations, including hand sanitizing stations.
At guest service counter areas or welcome desks consider adding a clear plastic panel divider to separate direct contact.
Add floor decals/signs to depict 6’ separation distancing for people or swap out carpet tiles with different color.
Re-arrange furniture groupings to maintain 6’ social distancing; use or add easy to quickly clean furniture and surfaces.
Use overhead signs to direct people in one-way traffic patterns in lieu of two-way.
If possible, don’t use the elevator, take the stairs in order to reduce number of people in tight spaces.
Replace as many surfaces and controls to be touchless as possible, including restrooms.
Monitor & limit the number of people using a restroom.
Block off or add restroom sinks so that social distancing is maintained.
Add door hardware to allow for touchless entry/exit at restrooms.
Replace or select easy to clean non-porous smooth surfaces such as quartz, solid surface, or stainless steel for easy disinfection.
Our next blog post will consider indoor design changes of kids & student areas and classrooms for church design during this pandemic predicament!