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The outbreak of Covid-19 in Malaysia: Pushing migrant workers at the margin

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Andika Wahab holds a PhD in Anthropology and International Relations from the National University of Malaysia (UKM), and currently serves as a Research Fellow with the Institute of Malaysian & International Studies (IKMAS), UKM. His fields of research include labour migration and responsible business, and corporate anthropology which focuses on corporate disclosure, compliance and the politics of sustainability. He previously served as the Assistant to the Representative of Malaysia to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission of human Rights (AICHR). He is also a member to the Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association (GBHRSA) and the alumnus of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights' Asia Human Rights Research Initiative in 2019.

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The outbreak of Covid-19 in Malaysia: Pushing migrant workers at the margin

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Andika Wahab holds a PhD in Anthropology and International Relations from the National University of Malaysia (UKM), and currently serves as a Research Fellow with the Institute of Malaysian & International Studies (IKMAS), UKM. His fields of research include labour migration and responsible business, and corporate anthropology which focuses on corporate disclosure, compliance and the politics of sustainability.

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COVID-19 and housing for migrant workers in Malaysia

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MIDEQ - Migration for Diversity and Equality

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Migrants in Malaysia: scapegoats in times of crises

Malaysia's relationship with migrant workers is placed under heightened scrutiny as its government attempts to address the spread of COVID. The inevitable economic downturn resulting from the pandemic has forced employers and those in the government to reflect on their reliance on migrant workers in various industries. At the same time, the spread of the virus within migrant communities has increased negative sentiments against them. These factors have resulted in the detention of 'illegal' migrants and refugees as Malaysia fights to overcome the pandemic.

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COVID-19 and housing for migrant workers in Malaysia

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Malaysia's relationship with migrant workers is placed under heightened scrutiny as its government attempts to address the spread of COVID. The inevitable economic downturn resulting from the pandemic has forced employers and those in the government to reflect on their reliance on migrant workers in various industries.

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Coping with Stress

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COVID-19 Guidance for Shared or Congregate Housing

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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The following guidance was created to help owners, administrators, or operators of shared (also called "congregate") housing facilities - working together with residents, staff, and public health officials - prevent the spread of COVID-19.

For this guidance, shared housing includes a broad range of settings, such as apartments, condominiums, student or faculty housing, national and state park staff housing, transitional housing, and domestic violence and abuse shelters. Special considerations exist for the prevention of COVID-19 in shared housing situations, and some of the following guidance might not apply to your specific shared housing situation.

People living and working in this type of housing may have challenges with social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Shared housing residents often gather together closely for social, leisure, and recreational activities, shared dining, and/or use of shared equipment, such as kitchen appliances, laundry facilities, stairwells, and elevators.

Be sure to consider the unique needs of your residents, such as people with disabilities, cognitive decline, or no access to technology. This guidance does not address infection prevention and control in healthcare settings. If your facility offers healthcare services, please consult CDC Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings

There may also be specific guidance for certain types of shared housing, such as homeless shelters, that may apply to your facility.

State, territorial, local, and tribal public health departments can give you specific information on COVID-19 transmission and policies in your community, which can help you decide when and if you need to scale up or loosen prevention measures.

Plan and prepare

Review, update, and implement emergency operations plans (EOPs)

Some shared housing facilities have already experienced an outbreak of COVID-19, others have a handful of cases, and others have not yet had infection introduced. Regardless of the status of a facility, the most important thing is for all facilities to plan and prepare. No matter the level of transmission in a community, every shared housing facility should have a plan in place to protect residents, workers, volunteers, and visitors from the spread of COVID-19. This should be done in collaboration with state and local public health departments, housing authorities, local or state regulatory agencies, and other relevant partners. Focus should be on components, or annexes, of already-existing plans that address infectious disease outbreaks. If your shared housing facility does not have an emergency operations plans (EOP), now is the time to develop one.

Reference key resources while developing, reviewing, updating, and implementing the EOP

Planning strategies to include:

Informing residents, workers, volunteers, and visitors about COVID-19. Develop information-sharing systems that are tailored to the needs of your setting. For instance, administrators can support residents who have no or limited access to the internet by delivering print materials to their residents. Printable materials for community-based settings are available on the CDC website.

Promoting healthy behaviors that reduce spread, maintaining healthy environments and operations, and knowing what to do if someone gets sick.

Taking action to prevent or slow the spread of COVID-19. This includes limiting the number of non-essential visitors to workers, volunteers, and visitors who are essential to preserving the health, including the mental health, well-being, and safety of residents.

Consider identifying residents who have unique medical needs and behavioral health needs and encourage them to develop a plan for if they or their primary caregiver(s) become ill.

To maintain safe operations

Review the CDC guidance for businesses and employers to identify strategies to maintain operations and a healthy working and living environment.

Develop flexible sick leave policies. Require staff to stay home when sick, even without documentation from doctors. Use flexibility, when possible, to allow staff to stay home to care for sick family or household members or to care for children in the event of school or childcare dismissals. Make sure that employees are aware of and understand these policies.

Create plans to protect the staff and residents from spread of COVID-19 and help them put in place personal preventive measures.

Routinely clean common spaces (such as, exercise rooms, laundry facilities, shared bathrooms, and elevators) and high touched surfaces and objects using soap or detergent at least once a day or as often as needed.

Identify services and activities (such as meal programs, religious services, and exercise rooms and programs) that might need to be limited or temporarily discontinued. Consider alternative solutions (e.g., virtual services) that will help programs continue while being safe for residents.

Identify a list of healthcare facilities and alternative care sitesexternal icon where residents with COVID-19 can receive appropriate care, if needed.

Encourage staff and residents to prepare and take action to protect themselves and others

Follow the guidance and directives on community gatherings from your state and localexternal icon health departments.

Encourage social distancing by asking staff and residents to stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart from others and wear masks in any shared spaces, including spaces restricted to staff only.

Consider any special needs or accommodations for those who need to take extra precautions, such as older adults, people with disabilities, and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions.

Limit staff entering residents' rooms or living quarters unless it is necessary. Use virtual communications and check ins (phone or video chat), as appropriate.

Limit the presence of non-essential volunteers and visitors in shared areas, when possible.

Use physical barriers, such as sneeze guards, or extra tables or chairs, to protect front desk/check-in staff who will have interactions with residents, visitors, and the public.

Provide COVID-19 prevention supplies for staff and residents in common areas at your facility, such as soap, alcohol-based hand sanitizers that contain at least 60% alcohol, tissues, trash baskets, and, if possible, masks that are washed or discarded after each use.

Consider any special communications and assistance needs of your staff and residents, including persons with disabilities.

Suggest that residents keep up-to-date lists of medical conditions and medications, and periodically check to ensure they have a sufficient supply of their prescription and over-the-counter medications.

If possible, help residents understand they can contact their healthcare provider to ask about getting extra necessary medications to have on hand for a longer period of time, or to consider using a mail-order option for medications.

Make sure that residents are aware of serious symptoms of their underlying conditions and of COVID-19 symptoms that require emergency care, and that they know who to ask for help and call 911.

Encourage residents who live alone to seek out a "buddy" in the facility who will check on and help care for them and safely make sure they are getting basic necessities, including food and household essentials.

Note: Surgical masks and N-95 respirators are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance. All staff and residents should wear a mask covering when in shared areas of the facility and maintain social distancing to slow the spread of the virus.
Communicate to staff and residents

Identify platforms such as email, websites, hotlines, automated text messaging, newsletters, and flyers to help communicate information on:

Guidance and directives from state and local officials and state and localexternal icon health departments.

How your facility is helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

How additional information will be shared, and where to direct questions.

How to stay healthy, including videos, fact sheets, and posters with information on COVID-19 symptoms and how to stop the spread of germs, how to wash your hands, and what to do if you are sick.

How staff and residents can cope and manage stress and protect others from stigma and discrimination.

Identify and address potential language, cultural, and disability barriers associated with communicating COVID-19 information. Communications may need to be framed or adapted so they are culturally appropriate for your audience and easy to understand. For example, there are resources on the CDC website that are in many languages.

Considerations for common spaces in your facility, to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Consider how you can use multiple strategies to maintain social (physical) distance between everyone in common spaces of the facility.

Consider cancelling all public or non-essential group activities and events.

Offer alternative methods for activities and social interaction such as participation by phone, online, or through recorded sessions.

Arrange seating of chairs and tables to be least 6 feet (2 meters) apart during shared meals or other events.

Alter schedules to reduce mixing and close contact, such as staggering meal and activity times and forming small groups that regularly participate at the same times and do not mix.

Minimize traffic in enclosed spaces, such as elevators and stairwells. Consider limiting the number of individuals in an elevator at one time and designating one directional stairwells, if possible.

Ensure that social distancing can be maintained in shared rooms, such as television, game, or exercise rooms.

Make sure that shared rooms in the facility have good air flow from an air conditioner or an opened window.

Consider working with building maintenance staff to determine if the building ventilation system can be modified to increase ventilation rates or the percentage of outdoor air that circulates into the system.

Clean shared areas (such as, laundry facilities, elevators, shared kitchens, exercise rooms, dining rooms) and high touched surfaces (for example, daily or as needed).

Considerations for specific communal rooms in your facility

Shared kitchens and dining rooms

Restrict the number of people allowed in the kitchen and dining room at one time so that everyone can stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart from one another.
People who are sick, their roommates, and those who have higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should eat or be fed in their room, if possible.

Do not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, or eating utensils. Non-disposable food service items used should be handled with gloves and washed with dish soap and hot water or in a dishwasher. Wash hands after handling used food service items.

Use gloves when removing garbage bags and handling and disposing of trash. Wash hands

Laundry rooms

Maintain access and adequate supplies to laundry facilities to help prevent spread of COVID-19.

Restrict the number of people allowed in laundry rooms at one time to ensure everyone can stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart.

Provide disposable gloves, soap for washing hands, and household cleaners for residents and staff to clean buttons, knobs, and handles of laundry machines, laundry baskets, and shared laundry items.

Post guidelines for doing laundry such as washing instructions and handling of dirty laundry.

Recreational areas such as activity rooms and exercise rooms

Consider closing activity rooms or restricting the number of people allowed in at one time to ensure everyone can stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart.

Consider closing exercise rooms.

Activities and sports (e.g., ping pong, basketball, chess) that require close contact are not recommended.

Pools and hot tubs

Consider closing pools and hot tubs or limiting access to pools for essential activities only, such as water therapy.

While proper operation, maintenance, and disinfection (with chlorine or bromine) should kill COVID-19 in pools and hot tubs, they may become crowded and could easily exceed recommended guidance for gatherings. It can also be challenging to keep surfaces clean.

Considerations for shared spaces (maintaining physical distance and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces) should be addressed for the pool and hot tub area and in locker rooms if they remain open.

Shared bathrooms

Shared bathrooms should be cleaned regularly (e.g., in the morning and evening or after times of heavy use).

Make sure bathrooms are continuously stocked with soap and paper towels or automated hand dryers. Hand sanitizer could also be made available.

Make sure trash cans are emptied regularly.

Provide information on how to wash hands properly. Hang signspdf icon in bathrooms.

Residents should be instructed that sinks could be an infection source and should avoid placing toothbrushes directly on counter surfaces. Totes could also be used for personal items to limit their contact with other surfaces in the bathroom.

If a resident in your facility has COVID-19 (suspected or confirmed)

Have the resident seek advice by telephone from a healthcare provider to determine whether medical evaluation is needed.

Residents are not required to notify administrators if they think they may or have a confirmed case of COVID-19. If you do receive information that someone in your facility has COVID-19, you should work with the local health departmentexternal icon to notify anyone in the building who may have been exposed (had close contact with the sick person) while maintaining the confidentiality of the sick person as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and, if applicable, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

If possible, designate a separate bathroom for residents with COVID-19 symptoms.

Consider reducing cleaning frequency in bedrooms and bathrooms dedicated to persons with COVID-19 symptoms to as-needed cleaning (e.g., soiled items and surfaces) to avoid unnecessary contact with the ill persons.

Follow guidance on when to stop isolation.

Minimize the number of staff members who have face-to-face interactions with residents who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

Encourage staff, other residents, caregivers such as outreach workers, and others who visit persons with COVID-19 symptoms to follow recommended precautions to prevent the spread.

Staff at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should not have close contact with residents who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19, if possible.

Those who have been in close contact (i.e., less than 6 feet (2 meters) with a resident who has confirmed or suspected COVID-19 should monitor their health and call their healthcare provider if they develop symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.

Be prepared for the potential need to transport persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 for testing or non-urgent medical care. Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis. Follow guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting any transport vehicles.

Accepting new residents at facilities that offer support services

First, review and follow the guidance and directives from your state and local officials.

If your situation is not restricted by their guidance and directives, then consider the following guidance:

At check-in, provide any new or potential resident with a clean mask and keep them isolated from others. Shelters can use this tool to screen for symptoms at entry.

Medical evaluation may be necessary depending on the symptoms.

If your facility is full, your facility space is inadequate to maintain physical distancing (such as is recommended in the guidance for homeless shelters), or you do not have the resources (staff, prevention supplies) to accept additional residents, reach out to community- or faith-based organizations to help meet individuals' needs, including:

A safe place to stay

Ability to obtain basic necessities, such as food, personal hygiene products, and medicine

Access to any needed medical or behavioral health services

Access to a phone or a device with internet access to seek out resources and virtual services and support

Additional CDC resources to help prevent spread of COVID-19 in shared or congregate housing settings

More detailed guidance is available for specific types of facilities. Some of the information in these guidance documents is applicable to that specific type of facility only, and some of the information would be applicable to other congregate housing facilities.

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The following guidance was created to help owners, administrators, or operators of shared (also called "congregate") housing facilities - working together with residents, staff, and public health officials - prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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Improved Standards of New Dormitories for Migrant Workers

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As more migrant workers are recovering from COVID-19 or being cleared to resume work, the Inter-agency Taskforce (ITF) is currently working with dormitory operators and employers on the housing arrangements for these workers.

Currently, some workers have been housed temporarily in sites such as army camps and sports halls, as well as vacant HDB blocks and private apartments slated for redevelopment.

To reduce the current density in the dormitories, the Government will be building additional dormitories with higher standards over the coming months and years.
Short-to Medium-Term Arrangements
By the end of 2020, additional space to house around 60,000 workers will be created through the following:

The Government is in discussion with contractors on building additional Construction Temporary Quarters (CTQs) to house their workers near the worksite and cut down on the need for transportation.
Longer-Term Arrangements
Moving forward, there are plans for new purpose-built dormitories (PBDs) to house up to 100,000 workers, which will replace the temporary accommodations built this year. This new building programme will take several years to complete, with the aim of having 11 new PBDs ready over the next one to two years.

All of these dormitories will have amenities like minimarts, barber services, indoor recreation facilities, and blocks will be well spaced out to ensure good ventilation. Workers living in these dormitories will have ready access to medical care and support.

With the additional housing capacity in place, the Government will be able to decant workers from existing dormitories, and undertake major upgrading of these dormitories to ensure that the new standards are met.
Improved standards and dorm operating model will be piloted
A set of standards and specifications will be developed for the new dormitories, which will look into the design, facilities, management and regulation of these dormitories, and will factor in social interaction and disease response needs.

These efforts aim to make dormitory living and design more resilient to public health risks, including pandemics. Lessons learnt from the current COVID pandemic will be taken in, with feedback sought from relevant stakeholders.

These improved standards will be piloted in the upcoming quick build dormitories (QBDs):

Living space per resident: at least 6 sqm (not including shared facilities), from at least 4.5 sqm per resident (including shared facilities) currently.

More sick bay beds - at least 15 per 1,000 bed spaces. An improvement from the current requirement of just one sick bay bed per 1,000 bed spaces.

The Government is also studying the possibility of developing the purpose-built dormitories on a different model compared to the present system, where currently land is released for commercial operators to bid, build, or operate.
Everyone has a part to play
While physical standards are being improved, it is also important to uplift the capabilities of dormitory operators and adjust the daily living habits of dormitory residents. The pilot aims to instil a new level of discipline on safe living within dormitories.

The additional and improved housing arrangements is expected to come at a cost, which is necessary to keep workers safe and allow Singaporeans to continue benefiting from their contributions. Adjustments may be made for permanent new dormitories based on the pilot's effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability.

Given Singapore's land constraints, some dormitories will be located closer to residential areas. This will require the support from Singaporeans as well, in appreciating the workers who keep Singapore going.

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Improved Standards of New Dormitories for Migrant Workers

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As more migrant workers are recovering from COVID-19 or being cleared to resume work, the Inter-agency Taskforce (ITF) is currently working with dormitory operators and employers on the housing arrangements for these workers. Currently, some workers have been housed temporarily in sites such as army camps and sports halls, as well as vacant HDB blocks and private apartments slated for redevelopment.

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Across Los Angeles, architects and developers are embracing factory-built multi-family housing construction across a variety of projects. A selection of recently proposed and currently under construction efforts highlight the fact that while previously limited mostly to single-family projects, modular construction is increasingly being used for larger projects.

In Hollywood, for example, architecture firm Steinberg Hart and developer R.W. Selby & Co. have unveiled plans for a new 202-unit apartment complex that is built using prefabricated modular units.

The development is marked by balcony modules that overlook street-level retail. Image courtesy of Steinberg Hart.

The project, set to be located on a long, narrow site, will feature 14,200 square feet of ground floor retail spaces as well as apartment units marked by projecting covered balconies arranged to express the project's modular construction systems. Urbanize.LA reports that the project will bring a mix of one- and two- bedroom homes to the 28,000-square-foot site, including 69 affordable housing units.

The project is the latest modular construction project proposed in the region, where escalating construction costs stemming from a widespread labor shortage are pushing developers to embrace factory-built buildings in order to save time (and money) bringing their projects to life.

View of the Hope on Alvarado development. Image courtesy of KTGY Architecture + Planning.

In the nearby MacArthur Park neighborhood, for example, Hope on Alvarado, an 84-unit transitional housing complex designed by KTGY Architecture + Planning is currently under construction.

The project, an outgrowth of the firm's R+D Studio, utilizes prefabricated "shipping container"-style components as a basis for its modular design. For the project, the architects are fabricating new container chassis components rather than re-using existing containers. The arrangement allows the construction team to work more effectively. Keith Labus, project architect for Hope on Alvarado, said via the KTGY website, "We're working with manufacturers and converting the containers into residential units right in the middle of the manufacturing process. It's more efficient and it can be done much faster, so we can deliver more units quicker."

Rendering of the Isla Connections project that utilizes modular elements to occupy a highway-adjacent scrap of land. Image courtesy of Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects.

A few miles southeast from Hope on Alvarado, Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects and Clifford Beers Housing recently broke ground on their Isla Intersections project, a 54-unit modular development taking shape on what was once a leftover railroad right of way. The project is built using components fabricated by Giant Containers, a global supplier of new, used and modified shipping containers.

The 35,000-square-foot project uses welded assemblies of shopping containers to create 20-foot by 16-foot studio apartment units containing ADA-compliant kitchens and bathrooms. On the project site, which is located adjacent to a congested highway intersection, the modular units are stacked and twisted to create a sheltered courtyard that will house a marketplace and public plaza.

According to the architects, modular construction was deployed on the project to halve construction times. The LOHA website states, "As a way to reduce the cost and construction time, we use modular container construction which allows concurrent work on- and off-site, condensing construction time to two years instead of four."

Similar articles on Archinect that may interest you...

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L.A. architects are embracing modular multi-family housing

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anchor Across Los Angeles, architects and developers are embracing factory-built multi-family housing construction across a variety of projects. A selection of recently proposed and currently under construction efforts highlight the fact that while previously limited mostly to single-family projects, modular construction is increasingly being used for larger projects.

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This is the first in a series of case studies exploring design concepts to meet the challenging business conditions posed by the pandemic. Our work was done in conjunction with NEWH - The Hospitality Industry Network - and published as part of their special issue magazine, "Beyond Covid-19". This project, BBQ Thyme, is an adaptive re-use renovation which houses a restaurant as well as two small grow operations - one located on the roof beneath a retractable canopy and the other in a solarium adjacent to the dining room.

We determined early on to make human interaction the key component to this concept in order for a restaurant to remain a successful neighborhood hub. We also realized that our solution would need to exemplify ease, comfort and provide the necessity of human socialization while acknowledging the importance of social distancing. For this exploratory project, we asked ourselves, how would an urban, casual, green-barbeque restaurant activate, cultivate and operate with human interaction being at the core? To address these challenges, we first determined five ingredients that would serve as the foundation to the solution: Carry-Out & Delivery, Retail & Reinvent, Technology & Flow, Human & Humble, Green & Grow.

Carry-out + Delivery

Our design emphasizes indoor and outdoor pick-up options, providing a pick-up window to assist customers who are not comfortable entering the restaurant and a large carry-out room which offers a visual connection to those who choose to dine in.

Retail + Reinvent

With this ingredient we look to push the restaurant concept beyond just food service and look to reinvent their market by retailing their sauces, dry-rubs, and even bottled cocktails.

Technology + Flow

This ingredient provides the solution of a seamless yet socially distanced human interaction. By integrating touchless technology at the ordering kiosks and checkout stations, guests and staff are reducing the number of touch points between one another.

The circulation paths through the restaurant were carefully developed for efficiency as well as to minimize crossed paths between guests and staff.

Human + Humble

Through this ingredient we nurture our connection to the palpable environment by highlighting the use of natural light and natural air circulation. Additionally, we have provided various experiences to meet individual levels of comfort by allowing for a connection to others, whether physically sharing the same experience or visually connecting through the layering of spaces.

Green + Grow

By taking cues from biophilia design which seeks to connect the occupants more closely with nature, our design utilizes plant integration through space separations and cues for directional flow. Additionally, this adaptive reuse project houses two indoor gardens promoting the growth of ingredients to supplement spice mixes, side dishes or as garnishes.

Our five ingredients nurture the restaurant concept to become a communal hub for the locals on which they depend. All of the ingredients were crafted with the main component of human interaction in mind. By keeping the human interaction at the core and the soul, the restaurant is able to provide the same level of service through well thought out design solutions that address the current challenging restaurant business conditions.

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Pandemic Design: Ingredients for a Successful Post-Covid Restaurant - Aria Group Architects, Inc %

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This is the first in a series of case studies exploring design concepts to meet the challenging business conditions posed by the pandemic. Our work was done in conjunction with NEWH - The Hospitality Industry Network - and published as part of their special issue magazine, "Beyond Covid-19".

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Text description provided by the architects. HACHI, the modern serviced apartment for monthly rental, located in business areas of Ladprao, Bangkok, and surrounded by very crowded urban housings, office buildings and conventional apartments. This serviced apartment composes of luxury rental 34-unit rooms with an area of 26-44 sqm. per room, a serviced office and multipurpose room. Hence, the building will scale approximately 5-storey with a total functional area of 1,100 sqm.

In the design of conventional apartment, a solid box is created as a model, of which the exterior consists of several balconies that are used for drying clothes and lying CDU or other insignificant purposes. Gables are designed above each of balcony to make residents feel like the apartment is their home, hide untidy balconies, and be a sunshade during daylight.

The building composes of several modular gable stories, each of them is orderly differentiated, including different depth, lath orientation and height. With a perfect combination of those modules that makes them like harmony rhythm as if the building is a vertical village.

The interior space is inspired by an analogic idea of ancient eastern people, who organized spaces by dividing each of activity areas in a sequence. Similarly, each of internal phases has an emotional design divided by gable arches that are related with exterior façade to switching people's emotion by bright and dark areas that begin from the entrance through stair hall and corridor.

The corridor wall and stair hall are built by black stones, with tiny spot lights that emit toward wood floor to guide and draw people's attention to the path while walking.

The corridor and rental room are designed to make residents feel highest comfortable, lively and a peaceful décor by a result of a perfect blend between white marbles and wood texture that give residents such a warm ambience as if it is their own home.

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HACHI Serviced Apartment / Octane architect & design

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Text description provided by the architects. HACHI, the modern serviced apartment for monthly rental, located in business areas of Ladprao, Bangkok, and surrounded by very crowded urban housings, office buildings and conventional apartments. This serviced apartment composes of luxury rental 34-unit rooms with an area of 26-44 sqm.

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Australian practice Crone Partners has recently won a competition to design a new community precinct in Rhodes, New South Wales. Starting with the intention to rethink the traditional community building and civic space typology, Crone Partner's winning design features clusters of spaces with programs subdividing by size and demands. In moving away from traditional public buildings, which are "characterised by [their] scale, elaborate and sometimes extravagant aesthetic", their proposal was no longer "constrained by a singular form".

In a separated spatial design "the programs can be semi-autonomous modules, given dynamic freedom to adapt to the context." According to the architects, "b y separating the programs we begin to differentiate the public space creating a hierarchy of spaces within the larger public realm. This differentiation of space allows for multiple modes of pace and activity to occur within the public realm, creating a more active space in a burgeoning population."

"The community precinct is separated into four buildings. The e-resource centre and multipurpose function space forms the main axis with the café/restaurant adjacent to the water in order to maximize views. Multipurpose meeting rooms help form an entrance zone off the main road. The precinct stretches to occupy the site and to form an intimate alcove within the heart of the proposal. The proposal creates a series of distinct and intimate landscape themes rather than one large public space."
References: Crone Partners

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Crone Partners Rethink the Community Center in Rhodes

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Australian practice Crone Partners has recently won a competition to design a new community precinct in Rhodes, New South Wales. Starting with the intention to rethink the traditional community building and civic space typology, Crone Partner's winning design features clusters of spaces with programs subdividing by size and demands.

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https://tomorrow.city/a/how-to-design-a-city-for-a-pandemic

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The pandemic has revealed how some cities were much better prepared than others in terms of withstanding the impacts of the multiple waves or controlling the spread of infection. This is good news, since it show us that, from an urban design point of view (how the city is physically organized) and the subsequent management thereof, there are ways of improving living conditions.

Why have some cities been better at handling COVID-19?

Urban environments have, for thousands of years, been the greatest victims of pandemics. These have spread in areas with large numbers of people, particularly in overcrowded places with poor sanitation facilities typical of past centuries. Although this situation is seldom seen in the rich cities of today, it still occurs in poor cities.

Paradoxically, the urban density factor (number of people per square meter) is a factor that has little to do with the spread of respiratory viruses when compared with other elements. For example, wearing a mask.

The non-active factor that has influenced the spread of COVID-19 the most is the socio-economic status: the lower the household income, the greater the exposure to the virus; a ratio seen at both a muncipal and national level and which has various explanations.

Poverty is related to elements such as:

an increased number of people livig in households, since lower household economic circumstances leads to various members of a family living under the same roof;

greater public exposure at work and while commuting, as these social classes are unable to work from home and often need to use public transportation;

limited access to hygiene services, a situation that is particularly serious in rural areas of developing countries in which there is a lack of water or no sewerage systems;

and fewer non-hospital public health elements (healthcare centers) to use

Many of these issues fall within the responsibilities of urban design, which in a way determines the price of land, the labor model, access to hygiene in nearby areas.

What does a city need to be prepared for a pandemic?

The pandemic has been an agent of change for urban transformation, although, once again, at different levels. Higher income families, for example, have been able to travel to second homes or relocate to suburban areas using private vehicles, minimizing potential routes of transmission by working from home. This has not been the case for most people.

However, experts indicate that this may not be considered a solution, and not just because many people do not have access to it. Relocating increases the distance to the health center and increases its cost per resident. The first point prevents many residents from getting there, and the second reduces healthcare coverage, which in turn prevents many others from accessing it.

Increasing distances between people, not houses

What has worked is the transformation of urban mobility. In cities around the world including Paris, New York, Madrid or Peking, experiments have been conducted such as pedestrianizing roads, increasing the space between people in streets despite high population density.

Work near home, or even at home

This distance also increases when people are allowed to telework from home, a measure that benefits even those who are not able to do so, by alleviating public transport systems. However, to achieve this, architectural and urban planning models are required that increase the usable area of apartments and policies that reduce the price of these.

Walkable cities

Once again related to mobility (the transmission of the virus is directly related to it), cities around the world are accelerating their plans for walkable cities where citizens can get to work, schools or shops on foot.

COVID-19 has been an agent of change for 15-minute cities or cities in which services are located 1 km from home. The pandemic has accelerated the progress of urban innovation in terms of traffic calming. For example, by adding bike lanes, which was not planned until a few years down the road.

Having non-hospital healthcare services close to home is another key aspect in preventing pandemics from overwhelming essential services. Once again, this requires reducing the space granted to road traffic in favor of pedestrian mobility which, very often, is impossible in suburban areas that do not even have sidewalks.

In relation to pandemics, a WHO press release stated that "the time has come to return urban streets to people". Using an article by the University of California, in Bloomberg they emphasize the need to remove rows of cars parked in streets to make way for people and, perhaps have more land for housing without doing away with green areas.

Real examples of good urban design models for pandemics

Many of the points above are related to urban development but others may be improved and optimized by effiicent municipal management. According to a report by the CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs), twelve of the best cities in terms of managing COVID-19 during the first wave were Milan, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Vienna, Zurich, San Francisco, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Melbourne and Hong Kong.

The enormous urban design differences in all theses areas is striking. From the compact and snug Hong Kong to the extensive and suburban Melbourne, the key would appear to be efficient management. Even extremely high density, informal and low-income places such as the case of District 31 (Buenos Aires) have found a way to adapt their management to urban development.

With the exception of the accelerated pedestrianization of streets, which requires a little more than paint, but is not a panacea either, urban design requires time. Decades and even generations. This is a constant discussion among thousands of spokespersons, desires and conflicts, and it takes time to transform cities and make them what they are today.

The pandemic has shown us a great deal regarding what works and what does not. It has marked the way to accessible green areas, open and bright houses with terraces, near to basic health centers or teleworking. A direction which, it just so happens (this was not the case during the last pandemic of 1918), was already underway in previous years, but has now speeded up.
Images | Wolf Zimmermann, Possessed Photography, Ljubomir Žarković, Benjamin Rascoe

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Pandemic-proof cities: the key to urban development models of the future

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The pandemic has revealed how some cities were much better prepared than others in terms of withstanding the impacts of the multiple waves or controlling the spread of infection. This is good news, since it show us that, from an urban design point of view and the subsequent management thereof, there are ways of improving living conditions.

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Project Details

Project Description

Designed for the Architecture at Zero design competition, 'Conspicuous Consumption' is all about encouraging creative and feasible approaches to zero net energy (ZNE) building, specifically for mixed-use student housing on a site on the UCSF Mission Bay campus.

A zero net site energy building project produces at least as much energy as it uses over a year when accounted for at the site level. Typically, net-zero is hard to achieve in large-scale residential buildings; design that empowers occupants to measure and manage their own energy consumption can have a significant impact on overall building energy use.

Weber Thompson partnered with energy consultants at WSP Group to empirically demonstrate that the design would meet ZNE. The design achieved reduced building loads through a combination of tactics including placement on the site, programming, passive heating and cooling strategies, a heat recovery system, shading devices and photovoltaic panels. The design reaches ZNE through user engagement and highly visible, easy-to-use integrated feedback systems.
The budget for net-zero energy is tracked and displayed in real time. At an individual level, a smart phone app aids in tracking; at a building level, dynamic color LED lighting highlights the top performing floors; and at a campus level the three buildings' relative performance is displayed, encouraging competition and conversation. As a result, students and their families actively manage their energy with continual feedback.
The competition was presented by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) on a site at the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay campus.

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Project Details Designed for the Architecture at Zero design competition, 'Conspicuous Consumption' is all about encouraging creative and feasible approaches to zero net energy (ZNE) building, specifically for mixed-use student housing on a site on the UCSF Mission Bay campus.

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Pomona College Student Housing / Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects

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Pomona College Student Housing / Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects

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Pomona College Student Housing / Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects

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Completed in 2011 in Claremont, United States. Images by Tom Bonner. This LEED Platinum certified project was the first student residence hall in California to receive such a rating. The award-winning project consists...

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1. To clarify and identify the program of the building clearly in order for you to determine the zoning, spatial arrangement, hierarchy and quality of spaces.
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2. The program and space design must be feasible based on urban analysis.
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3. To focus on Pandemic Design Strategies in order for you to deal and solve the project brief and initial project as well as urban issues.