Member Spotlight: Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Firms & COVID-19

June 29, 2020

WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE EGGERS, FELLOW

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, & CONSTRUCTION

BR + A CONSULTING ENGINEERS

CBT ARCHITECTS

JACOBS

LENDLEASE

REDGATE

VHB

A Better City members continue to step up during these challenging times to help keep businesses and individuals afloat through the economic shutdown. This week’s spotlight focuses on the work of finance and banking institutions that are actively engaged in work to help clients navigate the economic downturn brought on by COVID-19 as well as provide public relief through online resources and donations to several funds related to COVID-19.

PUTTING COMMUNITY FIRST

Our members recognize the unique opportunities they have to make a positive impact in the community during the fight against COVID-19 to give people informative resources at staying home, ensure local frontline workers are properly protected, assist in expanding local communities’ ability to fight COVID-19, and aid in global relief efforts.

CBT ARCHITECTS have allowed their Model Shop Director Aaron Williams to use the firm’s 3D printers to make medical masks that can be used by frontline workers and extend medical center’s stocks of N95 masks.ⁱ
LENDLEASE, in an effort to affirm its commitment to build and support resilient communities across Asia, has been providing targeted assistance for COVID-19 relief to local communities across Singapore, China, Japan, and Malaysia by supplying community partners in the region with hand sanitizer, food and beverages, and surgical gloves to ensure frontline workers can continue to do their work safely.ⁱⁱ
JACOBS, a partner of the World Economic Forum, is lending its expertise and resources to expand hospital capacity for the crisis and aid in post-crisis recovery to enhance the health and wellness of our built environments.ⁱⁱⁱ This includes repurposing existing buildings as well as constructing new medical facilities for COVID-19 care and supporting the Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments to create mobile ICUs. Operation teams currently not working at job sites are donating their surplus masks, gloves, and other supplies to those in need. In addition, Jacobs, is donating $1 million towards the COVID-19 crisis to help global organizations on the frontline and launched an employee matching program for local efforts while senior executives and members of their Board of Directors are taking a 10% salary reduction.^iv
VHB has published research trends on the impacts of COVID-19 across the different market sectors they’re involved in, including transportation, real estate, institutions, and energy.^v In their research, they include insights on how we will return to normal, analyzing the economic impacts, supply chain disruptions, and impacts to transit systems. On a community level, VHB has aided communities in launching teleconferencing capabilities for public meetings to ensure equitable access for the public to attend and comment on community issues, specifically helping MetroPlan Orlando.^vi

ADAPTING OPERATIONS TO PROTECT EMPLOYEES AND CLIENTS DURING COVID-19

Most employees at our various member architecture, engineering, and construction firms have adopted a work from home scheme, restricting business travel and in-person events, with corporate support to make the transition as seamless as possible for employees and clients.

BR + A, CBT ARCHITECTS, JACOBS, LENDLEASE, REDGATE, and VHB have all the majority of their team transition to working from home, suspending non-essential business travel for employees, and encouraging virtual events and meetings as much as possible.
BR + A has a 14-day quarantine policy for those who do travel and has shut down construction site visits. Design phase site visits are evaluated on a case by case basis for health and safety. They have been able to continue design projects uninterrupted during this time.^vii
LENDLEASE has kept corporate workplaces open with strict cleaning regimes that include regular disinfection of hard surfaces and high touchpoints. They’ve installed hand sanitizer stations in the office and restricted external visitors from entering.^viii
REDGATE has boasted their ability to continue operations with clients remotely due to their highly developed technology systems and previous experience working remotely with clients long before the COVID-19 pandemic.^ix
VHB has worked closely with staff to provide them with the appropriate technology to enable successful working from home, including expanding the capabilities of their VPN Network, providing monitors for employees, and servers to run high bandwidth applications. For those that have continued fieldwork, they have set strict guidelines and protocols to do so in a safe manner for the foreseeable future.^{^x}

PLANS FOR REOPENING

Although it seems, working from home schemes will continue for many months to come to some degree, our members must begin considering a way to outline a return to job sites and the workplace for their employees.

Lendlease is reopening construction sites in line with the latest health and safety guidance. They will have detailed engagement with partners, clients, contractors, supply chains, and workforce to make sure everyone is following proper protocols to allow for a phased return in the coming months.^xi

We see our member architecture, engineering, and construction firms leveraging their place in the community to protect frontline workers and do their part in supporting relief around the world. They are also using their technological capabilities to support a successful period of working from home to keep employees safe while keeping commitments to their clients. As we move into progressive reopening phases, these firms will be tasked with exploring how they can bring staff back to worksites and resume regular events in a safe manner.