Client
New York Employee Benefits
Location
Manhattan, NY
Date
August 2020
Design Library
2D Floor Plan
3D Rendering
Statement
The New York Employee Benefits Office conducts relations between the NYC and labor unions to benefit city employees. The commissioner serves on behalf of the mayor as the liaison for labor and management in the private sector.
The 2020 global pandemic changed life as we know it. Companies had to decide whether to have their employees work from home or introduce office workplace social distancing as part of their business pandemic planning measures. For most government institutions, remote working solutions weren't viable as their business involves face to face interaction with members of the public on either a regular or ad hoc basis.
In 2018 we completed the corporate design and installation of a modern office furniture project for the 18th floor of the organization. It involved just over 50 U-shaped cubicles from our O2™ Corporate Office Furniture system. In the initial project, glass stacking panels were integrated into the 53”H cubicle walls along the walkways.
The client asked for our assistance in modifying the existing furniture to adapt to their business continuity plan for pandemic procedures. We added 14”H clear plexiglass workplace shields to the tops of all cubicle panels, creating a total height of 67”. This is well above the average height of most mouths and noses on a standing person and can essentially act as “cubicle sneeze guards”.
We also added plexiglass shields around the U-shaped reception desk, and other work areas where public interactions are common.
Our barrier shields are an affordable, easy to install, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing product that offers additional safety without compromising the overall design.
