Architecture Practice Working At The Time of COVID-19

April 6, 2020

Architecture Practice Working At The Time of COVID-19

COVID-19

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has been an unprecedented situation that brought many changes to our daily lives very quickly. Although there has been some suspicion of what restrictions could be introduced, the lockdown, social distancing, and other measures, were not announced much in advance, so businesses were not given much time to set up a new system of working.

Working Remotely

At VORBILD Architecture, we managed to arrange ourselves to work remotely for a long while now. Actually, it has been 3 years, and it started when we began working on projects in the south of France, and beyond. I had to travel abroad fairly regularly and as a result, was never really in the office much. This encouraged us to set up the practice to cater for as much flexibility and connectivity that would not be location or time-bound.

For the team, as well as Clients, we set up a system to collaborate and discuss and manage projects via online tools. When COVID-19 arrived, things did not change much on that side. We have tested a few programs and platforms and so far our favorites are:

Microsoft Teams – for remote Client presentations
Podio – for communication with the team about projects
Xero – for bookkeeping
Dropbox – for file sharing
WhatsApp – for communication with Clients and suppliers (apart from making regular phone calls and writing emails)

Changes to a Working Day

In normal circumstances, the biggest chunk of my working day is spent on-site visits and meetings. With the travel restriction in place, the ratio of being at my desk to being out and about has changed drastically. Most of my work is now conducted from behind my desk. Now there is an increased number of phone calls and remote presentations, sometimes taking 3 hours each.

I have been able to maintain visits to sites, as construction activities have been deemed as vital and have not been ordered to shut down. These have been impacted in its own way with social distancing in place, some people needing to isolate and disturbance in deliveries of materials and from suppliers.

Outlook on the (Near) Future

We want to stay positive about this situation. While it is truly unexpected and horrific, I would like to see it as an opportunity for greater awareness. We have the chance to prioritize and focus. It may be an opportunity to plan. A lot can be achieved during this seemingly quiet period. Once it is over, you can then be ready to move forward with the next step.

Interested in reading more – try this article.

Let’s take each day as it comes and I hope you and your family stay well!