How will our cities be shaped by design interventions intended to improve public health and wellness in a post-pandemic world?

Michael Hegarty
CEO of dwp | design worldwide partnership

As we begin to look forward to a post-pandemic world, it’s essential that we consider the impact of COVID-19 on urban planning and design.
At dwp, we believe that the current situation presents not only challenges but also opportunities.
By looking back at how global cities have historically been shaped by design interventions specifically targeted at improving public health and wellness, we can begin to identify these opportunities and explore how we can shape our cities for the better.

Over the past 18 months, the response to COVID-19 in urban design and architecture has been focused on damage-control, prevention, and reducing impact through human behaviour modification. We now need to start thinking long term and planning for our post-pandemic future.
Urban areas have evolved over centuries – often in response to health crises – and the coming changes will inevitably be part of this continuing evolution rather than any form of urbanist revolution.
As we reimagine our cities, one thing is certain – it will require design intervention, high-quality delivery, and continuous effort to keep the balance between the multitude of interdependent factors that define our cities.

How will our cities be shaped by design interventions intended to improve public health and wellness in a post-pandemic world?

Michael Hegarty
CEO of dwp | design worldwide partnership

As we begin to look forward to a post-pandemic world, it’s essential that we consider the impact of COVID-19 on urban planning and design.
At dwp, we believe that the current situation presents not only challenges but also opportunities.
By looking back at how global cities have historically been shaped by design interventions specifically targeted at improving public health and wellness, we can begin to identify these opportunities and explore how we can shape our cities for the better.

Over the past 18 months, the response to COVID-19 in urban design and architecture has been focused on damage-control, prevention, and reducing impact through human behaviour modification. We now need to start thinking long term and planning for our post-pandemic future.
Urban areas have evolved over centuries – often in response to health crises – and the coming changes will inevitably be part of this continuing evolution rather than any form of urbanist revolution.
As we reimagine our cities, one thing is certain – it will require design intervention, high-quality delivery, and continuous effort to keep the balance between the multitude of interdependent factors that define our cities.

How can we further our understanding of creativity and the value it brings not only to design but to the world?

Mat Dalby
Five years ago, the World Economic Forum predicted that three skills would become essential for the future of the workplace – creativity, logical reasoning, and problem sensitivity. In the 2016 Future of Jobs report, the organisation cited research stating that more than half of all jobs would require a higher degree of these cognitive abilities as part of their core skill set by 2020. As workplaces have grappled with the effects of the ongoing pandemic since March 2020, this prediction couldn’t have been more prescient. An unprecedented rise in remote working practices and ever-evolving guidelines around interactions in the physical workplace has only served to highlight the value of creativity, critical thinking and problem solving abilities.

For designers and architects, this not only impacts on the way we work in our own creative practice but also in the way we create spaces that encourage these qualities in the end user. So, it is essential that we understand how to use and value creativity. “We need to look after ourselves and ensure that when we are called upon to unleash our creativity that we can successfully deliver time after time, rather than hoping that inspiration will strike sooner or later, like some form of creative slot machine,” says Mat Dalby, Interior Design Director for Australia & New Zealand at dwp | design worldwide partnership. “We are building a body of work we are proud of – not using a gumball machine.”

The Why – Climate Emergency

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face as a global community. As we increasingly see its impact on our world, it’s clear that shifting to sustainable practices is critical not just for the future but also for our prosperity and individual wellbeing today. “When we look at the world through the hopeful eyes of our future generations, we wish them a brighter future,” says Shanica Saenrak Hall, dwp Group Sustainability Leader. “It is our obligation as designers to minimize the impacts to our world and ensure sustainability is at the core of how we inhabit the built environment.”

According to the 2020 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction by the United Nations Environment Programme, the building and construction sector accounted for almost 40% of total global energy-related CO2 emissions. In response to alarming statistics such as this, dwp has committed to reimagining our built environment as part of the Architects Declare movement and is continuing to improve sustainability deliverables.

Over the past decade, dwp has been at the forefront of this movement. In 2015, dwp designed the Echuca Regional Health Hospital Redevelopment, which boasts an array of sustainable features, including one of Australia’s largest solar thermal cooling installations; and in 2017, dwp delivered the 6 Star Green Star Western Sydney University Science Building, setting new standards in Australian construction.

Key to the evolution of sustainable design practices are green building rating tools, such as Living Building Challenge and WELL. “The synergies between these different systems change the way we think about sustainability,” says Saenrak Hall. “At dwp, we are constantly informed by these innovative learnings.”

Can mass timber constructions provide a low-carbon alternative to steel and concrete structures?

Timber is one of the world’s oldest building materials and has been valued for its raw beauty, versatility, and strength since ancient times. Today, it remains one of the most popular materials for architects and designers, used for everything from cladding to structural framing. Over the past three decades, however, advancements in new types of innovative engineered timber products have revolutionised the way we use wood in construction. Mass timber products, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber (glulam), offer an exceptionally strong, low-carbon alternative to concrete and steel structures. They can be used for everything from simple load-bearing systems to major timber-frame structures and complete wood structure solutions, enabling architects to build bigger and higher with timber.

Around the world, timber towers—often dubbed “plyscrapers”—are rising in our cities, challenging the conventional notion of cities as concrete and steel jungles. The world’s tallest is the 85-metre-tall Mjøstårnet tower in the Norwegian town of Brumunddal; while the HoHo Vienna in Austria stretches 84 metres into the sky; in Vancouver, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban has recently designed a “hybrid” tower that combines steel and concrete with a timber frame; and by 2024, Japan’s Sumitomo Group hopes to use CLT to build a 70-storey wood skyscraper in Tokyo.

Can mass timber constructions provide a low-carbon alternative to steel and concrete structures?

Timber is one of the world’s oldest building materials and has been valued for its raw beauty, versatility, and strength since ancient times. Today, it remains one of the most popular materials for architects and designers, used for everything from cladding to structural framing. Over the past three decades, however, advancements in new types of innovative engineered timber products have revolutionised the way we use wood in construction. Mass timber products, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber (glulam), offer an exceptionally strong, low-carbon alternative to concrete and steel structures. They can be used for everything from simple load-bearing systems to major timber-frame structures and complete wood structure solutions, enabling architects to build bigger and higher with timber.

Around the world, timber towers—often dubbed “plyscrapers”—are rising in our cities, challenging the conventional notion of cities as concrete and steel jungles. The world’s tallest is the 85-metre-tall Mjøstårnet tower in the Norwegian town of Brumunddal; while the HoHo Vienna in Austria stretches 84 metres into the sky; in Vancouver, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban has recently designed a “hybrid” tower that combines steel and concrete with a timber frame; and by 2024, Japan’s Sumitomo Group hopes to use CLT to build a 70-storey wood skyscraper in Tokyo.

dwp|research on the Frontline: How the COVID-19 Crisis is Challenging Our Thinking About Health Design

Hospitals and healthcare centers are where the frontline battles are being fought against COVID-19 – and the pandemic has forced a rapid re-evaluation of these spaces. Designers and architects are already identifying new opportunities, in particular the need for greater flexibility. This will be essential in dealing with future pandemics and outlier events that create temporary surges in demand for healthcare every five to 10 years.

A New Normal: How the COVID-19 Crisis is Challenging Our Thinking About Workplace Design

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a profound shift in global work habits, with an unprecedented number of people working remotely from home. As this transforms the way the world works and communicates, the movement over the past decade towards a more remote, flexible, and digitally transformed workplace – dubbed the “coworking revolution” by dwp Group Creative Director, Scott Whittaker – has the potential to rapidly accelerate.

Learning for the Future: How the COVID-19 Crisis is Challenging Our Thinking About Education Design

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, education facilities around the world have continued to have a presence – and have had to rapidly adapt to new ways of functioning. Many schools are open only to the children of key workers or are soon to reopen only to certain school levels, meaning that fewer students are being supported in physical learning spaces. Other students and teachers at both schools and universities have had to make the shift to home and online schooling, challenging traditional notions of the classroom and accelerating the identification and adoption of accessible and effective teaching technologies.

Escaping the Everyday: How the COVID-19 Crisis is Challenging Our Thinking About Hospitality Design

Across the world, the hospitality industry has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures implemented to minimize the spread of the virus. As lockdowns are tentatively lifted in some countries and governments layout road maps to reopening in others, a number of hotels and other hospitality venues have started to slowly open their doors again and imagine a new post-pandemic world.