Safe space: LINDNER

As Corona numbers continue to rise, enthusiasm for the home office is somewhat on the wain. During the first wave, other concerns were, for many, outweighed by the new flexibility offered by working from home. Now, however, back pain due to lack of proper office furniture in the living room, seasonal depression, and nervous-overload stemming from the attempt to balance family and work, are causing frustration. 

What is missing are ‘spontaneous forms of work communication – conversations in the hallway which are important for collaboration and the emergence of ideas,’ explains Professor Werner Eichhorst from the Bonn Institute of Labour Economics in an interview in ZEIT. According to Eichhorst, the feeling of being part of a team is also easier to create when people come together physically: ‘So it would be wrong to give up on the office space itself’.

According to a study commissioned by Eset, most employees in Germany agree with Professor Eichhorst: 91% would like to work in the office again, even though a total of 60% would like to keep open the option of relocating to the home office as necessary. It is time then for employers to make offices and workplaces virus-proof in order to allow for communal working again – albeit under a new set of circumstances. 

In open-plan office set-ups as they currently exist, though, it is generally not possible to guarantee safe social-distancing measures without losing half of the work space. What’s more, open, communal spaces, so popular prior to Corona, are considered virus traps, yet remain important places of communication so cannot simply be taken away. Fortunately, the Lindner Group's interior design experts have come up with some solutions: with walls, floors and ceilings, they can preserve what has been already tried and tested and also provide protection.

Under the FLEXup OptiSpace label, Lindner combines decades of experience in the design of working environments throughout Europe with high-quality materials that meet the hygiene requirements  for life during the pandemic. This Corona Edition is therefore a logical addition to the portfolio and is just as flexible and well thought-out as other Lindner workplace concepts.

FLEXup OptiSpace is individually adaptable and modular. Hygienic surfaces such as glass and metal are used for the extensions. Like all Lindner coatings for ceiling and wall elements, the materials used in FLEXup OptiSpace have also been tested by the Fraunhofer Institute for biological cleanability as well as chemical and biological durability and found to be very good.

Thus, the most important components in FLEXup OptiSpace – the LinShield room-high protective walls – are also made of glass or metal that are easy to disinfect. The glass version allows eye contact  to be kept with the person opposite, ease of communication and a generous feeling of open space, while the metal version ensures privacy and optical separation.

As LinShields stretch from floor to ceiling, they prevent the spread of aerosols and are therefore a superior option to their shorter competitors. Indeed, a study led by the Finnish Aaalto Institute shows that even the smallest aerosol levels can be responsible for the transmission of the virus, and can easily spread over a minimum distance of 1.5m in the case of  sneezing, coughing or even speaking.

To stop the most efficient virus spreader – droplet clouds that rises up to 3m when sneezing and which can spread pathogens up to 12m away – LinShields clearly outperform common partitions placed on desks. Should the circumstances change again one day, the LinShields can be removed without leaving a trace – just as easily as a comprehensive retrofit.

Regular airing is another proven remedy against the virus. FLEXup OptiSpace also offers displacement ventilation systems via ceilings or special hollow floors from Lindner, through which fresh air is constantly supplied, while the existing air can escape without turbulence via ventilation grilles. LinShields, however, can also be used without the need for completely rebuilding floors and ceilings. 

The FLEXup OptiSpace brings life back into the working environment in every respect and enables real teamwork under hygienic conditions that will be with us for a long time to come. This is also confirmed by Gregor Kamps, Head of Workplace Strategy at GiB (Gesellschaft für innovative Bautechnologie mbH): ‘SARS-CoV-2 will change our working world in terms of agility, flexibility and digitalisation in a sustainable and lasting way. Unforeseeable events or economic cycles make space flexibility, and at the same time space quality, necessary’. In order to give every company the opportunity to maintain its own style, Lindner can adapt all products to respective plans and internal specifications.

At its own headquarters in Arnstorf, Lower Bavaria, Lindner has, of course, long since started utilising FLEXup OptiSpace in order to successfully continue the company's 50-year history even in these difficult times: with the right degree of separation and connection, with ceiling, floor and wall systems, with concepts for ventilation, acoustics and light, with flexibility and sustainable materials – throughout Europe.

Images: © www.Lindner-Group.com

© Architonic