Principal’s John Beddia, AIA, LEED AP, Tracy Rohrbaugh, Allied IIDA, and Larry Levato, AIA, REFP were recently featured in a piece in the Central Penn Business Journal focusing on the reopening of businesses, colleges and schools in the midst of a global pandemic, and how Architects are going to address these unique challenges.
An excerpt can be found below, and the full article can be read here.
“Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, Mechanicsburg, contributed its expertise to the report “A Clearing House of Resources to Aid in Reopening Schools,” to help educators nationwide in reducing the risks of COVID-19 transmission and mitigating potential outbreaks.
The focus is how to repurpose buildings for social distancing, said John Beddia, principal/managing partner/director of operations. That also applies to projects in the planning stages. “Safety and security are hugely important,” he said.
This is about now and the long term, Beddia said. The challenge for school boards for future projects is accommodating the possible need for social distancing without doubling the square footage, he said.
One way the current need is being handled, for example, is to have kids eat lunch at their desks and not in a crowded cafeteria. Instead, the cafeteria becomes an instructional space, Beddia said.
School districts already use flexible furniture, and that helps create social distance, said Tracy Rohrbaugh, principal/partner/director of design and human resources.
Technology also plays a big role, including regulating indoor air quality, Beddia said.
Then there are the additional challenges. What do you do when only 25 members of the school band are allowed in one room at practice? Other accommodations have to be made.
Another sensitive issue is maintaining social distancing for students with special needs, said Larry Levato, a principal at Crabtree, Rohrbaugh.”
