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The Six Feet Office Concept

The Six Feet Office Concept
06 May 2020 | Updated 26 May 2020
 

Cushman & Wakefield is pioneering a new office design scheme based around the “six feet rule” of social distancing.

The global real estate services firm aims to help companies prepare for their return to the workplace with effective office design solutions, suitable for what’s fast becoming known as the “new normal”.

Their concept is named 6 Feet Office, and it challenges many concepts of a traditional office layout.

 

“We started the 6 Feet Office Project with the ambition to get the world safer and back at work sooner. We believe that a safe and healthy workplace is at the centre of what’s next in business”

–Jeroen Lokerse 

Head of The Netherlands, Cushman & Wakefield

The 6 Feet Office – helping you adjust to a new normal

 

In the UK, as the government confirms that we are confidently over the peak of coronavirus, talk naturally turns to getting back to work, and adopting a new normal. 

Exactly how this will function is still unknown, with many speculating on potential measures that might be introduced in our workplaces. Predictions include staggered shift times, maximised home-working, physical screens and the use of PPE where social distancing is not possible.

Each country is at a different stage of experiencing the pandemic, but Cushman & Wakefield maintain that the six feet rule is set to stay for the foreseeable future. They want to normalise social distancing guidelines into everyday life, calling it the “golden rule”.

The 6 Feet Office concept consists of six elements:

 

  1. Six Feet Quick Scan – A concise but thorough analysis of the current working environment in the field of virus safety and any other opportunities for improvement
  2. Six Feet Rules – A set of simple and clear workable agreements and rules of conduct that put the safety of everyone first
  3. Six Feet Routing – A visually displayed and unique routing for each office, making traffic flows completely safe
  4. Six Feet Workstation – An adapted and fully equipped workplace at which the user can work safely
  5. Six Feet Facility – A trained employee who advises on and operationally ensures an optimally functioning and safe facility environment
  6. Six Feet Certificate – A certificate stating that measures have been taken to implement a virus-safe working environment

 

Watch the video


 

Cushman & Wakefield’s idea certainly suggests an interesting alternative to the social distancing conundrum that comes with attending a heavily populated office. The question as to whether companies will be willing to invest in this type of re-design for their headquarters remains to be seen.

Picture: A chalk board with the words "social distance" written on it

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 06 May 2020

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