M.S Yearsley and Sons, a True Value hardware store and John Deere franchise opened in 1917 and served the West Chester community from a series of attached 19th century buildings. In 2006 they relocated and the real estate was purchased for redevelopment. This project is a reflection of JL Architects history in mixed -use and infill projects. Today, the site is home to 88 apartments, over 20,000 sf of ground floor retail and restaurants, and over 100 off-street parking spaces.
To achieve that density and increased value, JL Architects supported the team in obtaining zoning changes and adjustments, Historic Review Board approval and the blessing of the community. Those efforts resulted in a site density increase of 100% over its prior allowance.
Our support came in the form of building and zoning code research and analysis, master planning, feasibility studies, sun studies, and expert witness testimony.
The property is now owned and managed by Hankin Group and was constructed by Pancoast and Clifford.
architecture
Modern Innovations Emerging in Today’s Early Childhood Education Facilities
As parents continue to return to the workplace, young children are heading back to the early childhood classroom. Are the design considerations of our early childhood facilities keeping up with the ever-changing requirements of today’s COVID social distancing society? Most professionals in the industry think their facilities could use an update.
“Taking into consideration potential updates that could be made to your existing or new facility is an important piece of the puzzle,” said Nick Pape, COO of Old Forge Builders, who specializes in the construction of early childhood education facilities. “Facility design and construction is as critical as top-of-the-line educational programs for success, more recently around safety, wellness, and technology.”
What should you consider as you plan to update your existing or plan your new early childhood education facility?
Establish Goals for a New or Renovated Center
- Help ensure the final product fully meets your needs by describing things such as how you want the center to feel and function and the type of atmosphere you hope to create
Have your Architect Evaluate Your Existing Center (when renovating, or adding locations)
- An architect needs to understand how you currently use your center and determine what you like/don’t like about it, so be sure to think about how different functions and activities occur and what changes you should make to have a more effective environment in your new facility
Check Out the Competition
- Visit newly constructed facilities and high-quality spaces to pay careful attention to design features that appeal to you, interview staff
Interview Potential “Users” of your New Center
- Gather sufficient input from those who will ultimately use the facility: parents, teachers, support staff, administrators, and children to identify and prioritize needs
Plan
- Remember to plan for potential program growth or other trends that might affect your facility’s plans
Identify Your Center’s Specific Needs
- Think about your center’s total population, the number of children you hope to serve as well as the number of adults who will use the space
- Consider how children will interact in the physical space and provide your architect with specifics regarding children’s ages, head count, need for spaces with distinct use, spaces that should be adjacent to one another, etc.
- Plan for more than the required square footage by state licensing standards to ensure that you have the amount of usable space you will need today and in the future
- Allow for at least 50 SF per child of useable classroom space for preschool-age children and even more for infants and toddlers
Identify Each Type of Use Space
- Classrooms: Specify the types of features you would like to have in each classroom, such as child size bathrooms, windows, counters/cabinets, access to the outdoors, etc.
- Staff: Staff needs may include things such as secure storage for personal belongings, phones/intercoms in rooms, work areas in classrooms, convenient storage for classroom supplies and materials, staff break and resource rooms, and more.
- Offices: Plan for the number of staff who need private office space and the types of activities that will take place in the various offices
- Kitchen: Decide early in the process how you plan to use the kitchen and communicate this with your architect.
- Miscellaneous: Consider other types of spaces you should provide for adults using your center, such as adult bathrooms, staff break and resource rooms, meeting room, and dedicated parent spaces such as a resource area.
- Storage: Plan for ample space for storage needs up front to add to your satisfaction with the center when it is complete.
- Entry/Reception: Discuss what type of reception work area is needed, security system requirements, waiting area layout, and a potential separate delivery area.
- Maintenance: Plan for enough space for important functional areas such as laundry facilities, janitorial closet, mechanical room, etc.
- Outdoors: Carefully think of the areas outside of your facility such as parking, landscaping, playground, etc.
JL Architects has over 30 years of experience providing planning, permitting, design, and architectural support across the entire US. With a variety of early childhood care and educational facilities in our portfolio, how can we help you update or plan your next child care center?
-Laura McLaine, Director of Business Development
Life Sciences: What Does Re-Opening Look Like in the Lab?
While companies slowly open, architects are busy finding solutions for what may be a new normal in the workplace. One proposal is the “six feet office” concept.
The six feet office includes an array of design features intended to keep coworkers six feet apart from one another. Examples include barriers in between desks, pedestrian lanes that keep the traffic flowing in an orderly and directional way, and disposable supplies to keep the germs from spreading. The six feet office seems to be a promising scenario to get people back to the office. Yet, many offices are not in position to redesign their space; so how are they coping?
I had the pleasure to interview a research scientist working in a pharmaceutical company in Philadelphia and here is our shared conversation.
1.What are the new protocols implemented in your office since emerging from quarantine?
“With PA in the “green” phase we are returning to near full function, although the way we work has changed. Those employees (such as lab personnel) whose work requires being physically present have resumed working part-time on campus, while office-based employees continue to work solely from home. Indeed, only those employees responsible for facilities maintenance and for laboratory studies are authorized for entry. Working with space planners in the facilities department, the laboratory and office floor plan was mapped into work areas for single person occupancy. Prior to coming to the campus, lab-based personnel must sign up for one of these individual work areas and for individual office space. Reserving office space ensures that each scientist has a place to perform computer-based work during long experimental steps where physical presence in the lab may not be required. Conference rooms are no longer used for traditional purposes but may be reserved as temporary office space. Upon entry, personnel must don a mask provided at the entrance and check in at the guard station. The guard will verify authorization and simultaneously perform a forehead temperature scan. Masks are always required while in the buildings, and bathrooms are now single occupancy. When the laboratory work is finished, personnel are encouraged to go home to continue other computer-based work as needed. The general idea is to minimize building occupancy and increase social distancing while continuing critical work. Work areas are sanitized every night.”
2. How do you feel about going back to work?
“It is great to be busy and active within my profession, and to be generating data toward the discovery of needed therapeutics. With the various controls ensuring social distancing and the robust cleaning procedures, I am confident in the safety of the work environment. I do miss the social aspects of work. I miss the celebratory and team building lunches that won’t resume anytime soon.”
3. How can architects help you during this pandemic?
“Space planning and signage is key right now. We need to optimize the use of our space to increase laboratory capacity and organize the corridors and signage for efficient movement of people together with maximal social distancing. More than ever, interior design is needed to project a healthy, stimulating atmosphere. Optimizing the use of natural lighting is key to achieving a positive vibe and engineering must ensure robust reliable ventilation. Creative solutions may also improve the work-at-home experience.”
Many companies in our Philadelphia region are delaying their opening and figuring out how to open efficiently and safely. The only thing we know for sure is the office will look different for quite some time, and our job as designers is to create innovative physical distancing solutions that allow for the collaboration and culture that is so important to a company’s identity. How can we support your efforts to get back in the office?
-Myrna Villanueva, Architectural Designer
Corporate Office Design Changes Protect Employees
According to the Society of Human Resources, 77% of organizations in 2017 did not allow full time work from home for employees. Though current statistics are not available on the number of employees working from home, we can look at our local community. Philadelphia, and its surrounding suburbs entered the green phase of reopening a month ago, yet the large employers have not brought their staff back into the office. With the continued rise of COVID-19 cases in our country, going back to the corporate office is a moving target.
Check out our video highlighting the updates, and improvements to a suburban Philadelphia corporate building that JL Architects is working on. The property was purchased with the idea of modernizing and repositioning the building for new tenants. With COVID-19, new enhancements and ideas have also emerged.
Will We Ever Go Back to an Office Space?
When states began to shut down and businesses sent employees home, some companies determined workers did not need an office to work. Employees found enhanced freedom and new-found activities replacing commuting to result in greater productivity and satisfaction. Yet, as endless zoom calls and online meetings continue, workers have come full circle. We realize that the satisfaction was not in working from home, it was having the flexibility to work from home or an office on different days provided the greatest satisfaction.
The bottom line is that the office is not dead. But the chances that we will return to a pre-COVID look are slim.
The New Normal
While we previously tried to maximize square-feet-per-worker, maintaining safety through social distancing in the workplace has reversed that attitude. Our office set-ups will begin to include more “elbow-room” for employees. That also means shared work spaces and hoteling desks will change. Employees now need their own sanitized spaces to prevent the spread.
Company culture and interpersonal relationships are becoming more proactive–instead of having a casual conversation while you sit next to each other, coworkers need to make an effort to engage online or in a socially distant environment.
These relationships have been buoyed by the same tools that allow workers to be productive remotely. With increased flexibility in your work location, you’ll be able to stay at home when you have a cold instead of dragging yourself into the office. The choice is no longer between missing a day or completing the task on time, it is to complete the task from home or the office. We’ll all benefit from it.
Working from an office does not have to mean the same office. Technology that made remote working possible, makes it easier for people to work in different places on different days. That includes in-home work spaces and satellite suburban offices supporting a main office in the same market (a hub and spoke configuration). For the workforce, this means:
- Fewer workers in a single location and reduced chance for cross-infection,
- Shorter commute times resulting in economic and time savings, stress reduction, and improved air quality
- Greater options for suburban locations, including amenities, walkability, connectivity
Businesses can experience increased savings from the cost of renting a smaller urban location and encouraging an increased presence in lower rent suburban areas. Hopefully, this will result in increased retention and higher employee satisfaction.
In terms of interior office space, we are continually working to reduce common touch spots like doors, faucets, and elevators. Office spaces need to install increased proximity and motion activation rather than a switch, button, or leaver. Conversations that took place at the water cooler, coffee station, and lunch table will gradually return. Those places will be cleaner due to improved ventilation, better cleaning, and antiviral and antibacterial materials.
Finally, wearing masks is normalized. We realize that while it may be uncomfortable, wearing a mask when ill helps to maintain a healthy population.
Each day we hear someone say these are strange times–and they are! I take comfort in the conviction that humans adapt. The hardships that we experience now are already leading to greater innovation and resilience, greater appreciation of what we have, and more awareness of our collective health and well-being.
John Lister, Principal
Pivot for Purpose
We have been through the ringer dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses of every type have been forced to assist in the needs of the pandemic or “pivot” to stay afloat during these unforgettable times.
While you were isolated in your home with little to do, and most mercantile businesses were closed until further notice, many of us turned to technology to seek engagement beyond the confines of our home. Shopping online became the new pastime, and if you glanced at your neighborhood, you would have thought it was approaching Christmas with the amount of cardboard stacked in front of doors. But with everyone ordering delivery, it started a countdown until brick and mortar retail would be closed for good. Businesses pivoted to curbside pickup. This provided relief for local businesses and allowed you to continue the online shopping past time.
Pivoting from Traditional Business Models
As you were confined to your place of residence dreaming of your last vacation of where the sky was blue and the sun was yellow, you probably noticed planes were still in the sky. Commercial airlines have suspended 90% of their scheduled flights. With virtually every set of wings sitting in a hangar, airlines pivoted to cargo-only flights. These flights delivered crucial items like groceries, and the 3rd pair of shoes you ordered for the week.
Restaurants, possibly one of the hardest hit industries, followed suit by providing curbside pickup, while others utilized delivery businesses. Now that states are lowering the restrictions, people are craving normalcy and restaurants are starving for business, but restrictions permit only 50% occupancy at best while maintaining social distancing. To satisfy the needs of local businesses and consumers, many municipalities have closed main cart ways to allow local businesses to utilize the open space for business while maintaining social distancing requirements.
Although groceries were torn from the shelves as if the next record-breaking blizzard or hurricane was imminent, customers still needed to come back for necessities over the following weeks. Some grocery stores in larger metropolitan areas are closed to the public. These locations were used to fill online orders to safely bring food to your doorstep.
CDC Restaurant Recommendations
The CDC has a list of behaviors that reduce the spread in restaurants. These behaviors are as follows:
- Staying Home when Appropriate
- Hand Hygiene and Respiratory Etiquette
- Cloth Face Coverings
- Adequate Supplies
- Signs and Messages
With the increase of cost for running restaurants and requiring masks and other PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to operate, restaurants around the country are adding a COVID fee for dining at their locations. This charge helps fund PPE for their employees along with an adjustment due to higher operating costs. Some food suppliers raised costs due to supplying more PPE which forces restaurants to raise their prices in kind. The CDC states that the lowest risk in food service is limiting the restaurant to drive-through, delivery, take-out, and curbside pick-up. If on-site dining is to be held, they suggest setting the tables to be at least 6 feet apart which allows for the guests to not spread their droplets between tables.
Some local, traditionally dine-in restaurants have decided to change their business model. In more rural areas, there are not as many supermarkets and grocery stores, so rural restaurants have added a la cart or grocery market portions to their business. With grocery stores limiting the quantity of different items in stores, restaurants can supplement the weekly grocery store run and still make a slight profit.
Several restaurants have added mobile delivery options to their business model with the option of contactless delivery to promote safer interaction of employee and client. This idea can be brought to the idea of dining at a restaurant. Restaurant management wants us to imagine the contactless waiting and dining. Imagine,
“One of your regulars walks into the restaurant. After placing themselves on a virtual waitlist at their apartment, they drive over knowing the host will seat them upon arrival. As soon as they sit down, they read a card on the table that states, ‘Scan this image for access to our digital menu.’ Once they scan the QR code on their mobile phone, they are able to view the full menu, place an order where they add a dairy allergy note for the chef, and pay for the meal at the click of a button, all without interacting with a server or touching a physical menu.
As soon as they’re done with their food and drink, they stand up and walk out. From there, your restaurant can seat new people off your waitlist, adding an extra turn (and more revenue) while your restaurant is operating at 50-percent capacity. This guest’s experience was fully contactless from beginning to end — giving them few opportunities to fear that they’ll come in contact with a virus or bug while at your property”
Although many of these pivoting business practices were initiated out of necessity for survival, some will not be able to sustain businesses or continue year-round. As life continues and COVID remains we will start to see shifts for longevity, and when COVID is harnessed, society will be built on what we have learned from the past. During these times, JL Architects continues to offer our expertise for building your future.
Transitioning Out of a Pandemic
The world has been transformed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are all probably tired of hearing the C-word. What many aspire to hear is a discussion of returning to normalcy. To reach normalcy we will need to leave the times of Stay-at-home orders and move into a transition period. What will these times of transition look like? Will they feel like normalcy and remain indefinitely, or simply being a steppingstone to what was once normal? At this point we don’t really know! The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has offered their ideas to move forward in the retail world. A hierarchy of effective ways to control the spread of the virus have been developed. At the top is obviously social isolation, but other effective means can be physical barriers and ventilation.
Individuals in the real estate and architecture industries speculate that demand for gyms and workout class boutiques will bounce back aggressively. This type of occupancy presents several challenges to reopening. The proximity of equipment from each other, individuals breathing heavily, and perspiration. Not to mention the socialization aspect of the occupancy. JL Architects can assist in new space planning and occupancy guidelines allowing you to keep your customers safe in an efficient and still profitable manner.
The AIA has assembled a Re-occupancy Assessment Tool that can be used in preparing your business to welcome back customers and/or employees. The tool identifies desirable and essential categories for each item. Contact us at JL Architects and we can help integrate these changes effectively with your company’s efficiency in mind.
-Nathan Houser, Architectural Project Manager
Photo Credits: VisitPhilly.com, Abcnews.go.com