Paragon Group hosts CPD masterclass on healthy-building design in the Covid-19 crisis
 | Paragon Group hosts CPD masterclass on healthy-building design in the Covid-19 crisis_approved | 38.5 KB | Download |
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 Preview | The built environment also has a major impact on mental and social well-being | 5.4 MB | Download |
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 | Untitled design (17) | 11.11 MB | Download |
A recent study indicated that people typically spend 90% of their time indoors. The built environment therefore has the potential to have a major impact on our health – both good and bad. Another study found that the risk of infection indoors is almost 19 times higher than outdoors.
In order to highlight the important role that the built environment plays in occupant health, the Paragon Group is hosting an online masterclass entitled ‘Designing Towards a Healthy Built Environment’ in a webinar at 10:00 on Tuesday 4 August.
The masterclass has been accredited by the Gauteng Institute for Architecture, meaning that participants can earn 0.25 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points. The two-hour long masterclass will be presented by Meiring, and is open to participation by students, architects and the general public.
The masterclass will cover a wide range of aspects in the built environment that affect occupant health, including: indoor air quality, humidity, thermal health and ventilation, access to daylight, building surfaces, biophilic design and spatial organisation.
Apart from the physical aspects of building-occupant health, Meiring points out it would be remiss to ignore the influence of the built environment on mental and social well-being. With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting people’s lives, medical infrastructure and economies globally, it is understandable that the current focus is on the physical aspects of health and, more particularly, on the transfer or pathogens. Hence limiting, or even completely avoiding, social contact has become the norm.
However, the general population worldwide is reporting heightened feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression. Research suggests that even less-extreme forms of social distancing such as staying several metres away from other people or avoiding regular outings might take a toll on mental and social well-being.
There is a tension between these two aspects of occupant health: Building environments that allow a high degree of connectivity, thus supporting mental and social well-being, have also been shown to house an abundance and diversity of microbes, potentially increasing occupant exposure to pathogens. Indeed, survey-based assessments have found a correlation between shared or open-floor plans in offices and employee sick leave.
“There is definitely an equilibrium that needs to be found between all aspects of human health,” stresses Meiring. “How do we design a built environment that encourages social interaction and collaboration in a pandemic world? How do we meet people’s absolute basic needs for social well-being, while keeping them safe from potentially harmful pathogens?” These and other critical issues relating to health and the built environment will be discussed at the Paragon Group masterclass.
To register for the ‘Designing Towards a Healthy Built Environment’ Paragon Group Masterclass at 10:00 on Tuesday 4 August, click on the following link: http://shackdemos.co.za/webinar/webinars/paragon-masterclass/.
Ends
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About Paragon
Paragon, established in October 1997, is an internationally-active design business, based in Johannesburg. We deliver commercial architecture, masterplanning, interior design, and space planning to visionary clients in all property sectors, from retail to residential and education.
We are committed to global urban development. We are able and agile. Paragon is flexible and diverse in its approach to design. Each project is unique and not driven by style, but by lifestyle and a response to user needs. Elegant and efficient planning form the core of our designs. We understand the needs of our clients, and know how to generate ever new architectural forms in a competitive property market.
We are known for hands-on engagement with all opportunities present in the modern global building industry. The true measure of our skill is our ability to engage at all levels and with all players that make up the colourful world of construction and property development. Our buildings look forward. We embrace the future, because we will be a part of it – part of its problems and responsibilities, and part of its great freedoms and achievements.
Paragon Group Contact
Cindy Faux
Director
Phone: (011) 482 3781
Email: cindyf [at] paragon [dot] co [dot] za
Web: www.paragon.co.za
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