MarxModa & Hour Detroit Help Michigan Businesses Adapt to COVID-19
For their October 2020 issue Hour Detroit asked MarxModa CEO & Principal Whitney Marx how office spaces are being redesigned to keep employees safe during the pandemic.
Hour Detroit journalist Ashley Zlatopolsky spoke with Whitney Marx about how the COVID-19 virus has affected businesses in Michigan, and the way design has helped them adapt to our new normal. Marx shared how MarxModa had to move quickly to assist our partners when the pandemic hit Michigan in March.
"The first clients we helped were the essential businesses, especially healthcare-related clients and organizations looking to set up temporary COVID-care facilities very quickly," Marx said. She went on to share MarxModa's early focus groups with clients, manufacturers, experts, and our own team members, where we worked to discover the challenges that COVID-19 was presenting and how design could solve for these. For more insights from these sessions check out our Return to Work Guide.
The article goes on to highlight some of the changes our partners have been making to update their spaces including "updates to floor plans to meet distancing recommendations, such as furniture reconfigurations to move people further apart or change their orientation." DIY tips including using caution tape to section off areas or specific workstations and using paper signage to help remind employees to keep their distance are also recommended in the event companies do not have a budget to hire an interior designer.
"I was so pleased to work with Hour Detroit on this article about how businesses across our state, including our own, are learning and adapting during this time,' Marx said. "I hope that this piece, like our Return to Work Guide, can serve as a thought-starter and blue print that any business can adopt to keep their employees safe as we all move forward together."
