Hermetically Sealed? NOT!

There has been a lot of evolutionary thinking going on over the last twelve months about the negative repercussions of the pandemic on cities in general and the commercial real estate market in specificity, and although its impacts are more relevant to the North American and European contexts, its residue is global. Much has been written (including several of these posts), discussed, and already implemented by industry stalwarts and pundits around the globe for many of the following topics separately. Assimilating them into a condensed format may serve as an inspiration, checklist or guideline for the next generation of buildings…. or at least fodder for more intellectual discourse. So here are some seat-of-the-pants prognostications about how we will redefine, perceive, design, and use a new generation of spaces and environments whose DNA we have all taken for granted for ages.

Open Sesame!

The first rule of designing spaces, whether large format meeting and gathering spaces like sports venues, entertainment complexes, and retail or tall edifices is to open them up to the exterior environment. The hermetically sealed building will be a thing of the past. Newer generations of built environments will make every effort to introduce “green havens”, whether lushly landscaped courtyards in horizontal structures or sky parks and decks in tall buildings, facilitating a visceral contact with the exterior environment, promoting a sense of wellness as well as biophilic calm. Atriums with retractable roofs, sky terraces with bistros, lobbies opening up to palm groves and al-fresco dining opportunities, and roof gardens becoming veritable repositories of hydroponics and urban farming will all become commonplace. There is an assumption here that the outdoor environments and air-quality are good to facilitate such design trends, and they don’t always prevail in many crowded, humid, and polluted cities in Asia or bitterly cold environs in the northern hemisphere. However, the idea of opening up to exterior confines will gain more traction and acceptance with the implementation of new technologies mitigating pollution, encouraging shaded spaces, and infusing more porosity, permeability, and greenery. This is a trend whose time has come, and it is NOW!

Timberrrr….

The use of mass timber will gain greater momentum as the preferred material for construction given its carbon sequestration advantages, lighter weight, dry and speedy construction schedules, lesser construction waste, and its biophilic and wellness attributes. As new research progresses regarding structural implications and life-safety issues, the use of sustainably harvested mass timber, at least in western countries, will contribute positively to climate-change initiatives and become a more commonplace construction methodology.

Breathe

Natural ventilation will become de rigueur in most structures, facilitated by new technologies, operable smart facades, filtering or dehumidifying outside air, and reducing investments in mechanical equipment. The intent is to make buildings living-breathing mechanisms with less reliance on air-handling units, at least during less inclement weather. With the built environment spewing out 40% of total emissions, naturally ventilated buildings will contribute substantially to reducing carbon emissions.

For Everyone, a Garden

The venerable Canadian Israeli architect Moshe Safdie made this proclamation while designing Habitat 67, and the sentiment remains true even more so today. New projects in the residential, and hospitality sectors will strive to achieve more outdoor spaces in the form of expansive patios or decks rather than perfunctory balconies (hopefully encouraged by new codes allowing for non-consumption of FAR), while a newer generation of the Workplace and Collaborative Enclaves will open up to lush, spiraling or cascading sky gardens, lounging decks, and waterfalls. The recently announced Helix Tower for Amazon’s HQ2 (NBBJ) in Arlington, Virginia, suggests future potentials.

Regenerative

Sustainability is so passe'. The next echelon of sustainable development is Regenerative Design and Living Buildings, which not only reduce carbon emissions to net-zero but contribute to the environment by producing clean energy. How these attributes will reconcile with Tall Buildings is going to be challenging, but assuredly American ingenuity will prevail, and a new generation of architects and engineers will lead the way.

3,5,7

Vertical Transportation in the form of current elevator technologies will go through a sea-change, especially given the pandemic-induced need for a 6’ / 2m separation, an inherently unworkable phenomenon for elevators. All major providers of these technologies are working feverishly to come up with new methodologies to at least circumvent the persistent fears of infection. The solutions may lie not only in staggered timings, redistribution of occupancies and densities but also in expanding the number of elevators within singular shafts allowing for speedier and less congested vertical travel without compromising efficiencies. The TWIN technology by ThyssenKrupp of two cabs within a singular shaft is already existing and operational and the safety potential of multiple cabs within single shafts is presumably already being investigated.

Mixed, Multiple, Many

The phenomenon of Mixed-Use developments, although initiated in the US fifty years ago, never really caught on in America, while the ideology became commonplace and highly successful in the Asian context. Given the paucity and untenable economics of urban land, the idea of stacking up mixed and multiple typologies (with a larger percentage of residential use) within urban towers may finally become routine in the American context. This Johnny-Come-Lately will undoubtedly have positive repercussions on consolidated footprints, improved urbanity, and enhanced profitability. Besides, with the reticence of CEOs and CFOs signing up new leases for the redefined and condensed Workplace, there will be a huge surge in retrofitting (and opening up) existing towers into vibrant residential communities, reinforcing and replenishing new energies into the much-maligned cities.

Pollyanna

The singular CBD, downtown, or Urban Center will give way to Poly-Centric cities, with multiple smaller hubs, better transit connectivity, lesser commuting, and everything accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. Too Utopian? Not so already, in the new and anticipated versions of Barcelona, Paris, Melbourne, or Portland, OR.

 Au Revoir

Assuming vaccinations and herd immunities will mitigate the current physical and psychological havoc the Pandemic has caused globally, life will revert to new variables of normalcy, and the disease will either recede or become just a nuisance factor. And concurrently, as the global design communities explore new ideologies, implement new technologies, and develop new urban centers, a healthier generation of cities, buildings and environments will evolve for the benefit of all.