Arconas, a manufacturer and distributor of furniture for airports and transportation terminals, has collaborated with Canadian companies Entro and PCL Graphics to design, manufacture and distribute social distancing resources and help keep passengers safe as they navigate airports and public spaces.
From the proceeds from the sale of these Covid-19 resources, Arconas and Entro recently donated US$10,000 to Food Banks Canada, Feeding America, and the Black Health Alliance.
Social distancing measures have required furniture designers to rethink the way people move through and spend time in transportation terminals. The challenge for furniture designers is now to relieve some of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As part of a project, the team released a series of cough shields and physical distancing decals. Seat covers, stickers and shields produced by the companies have already been utilized in the Brownsville Airport and bus station, Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport, Charles M Schulz Sonoma County Airport, Red Lake Airport, and various Airport Dimensions’ shared-use lounge networks, among others.
“While spaces can’t easily be changed, with effective communication and strategic design interventions, we can change human behavior. Especially in these challenging times, we believe good design can make difficult and necessary changes possible,” said Wayne McCutcheon, founding partner at Entro.
Lynn Gordon, vice president of business development for Arconas, added, “The crisis forced us to look at our core business and pivot as quickly as possible to provide our clients with the resources they needed to resume operations. By leveraging the expertise of PCL and Entro, we were able to provide solutions such as cough shields and physical distancing stickers to our clients to keep their guests and staff safe.”
PCL Graphics, which has converted into a PPE safety supplier as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, specializes in retail, commercial and graphics fabrication, focusing on how people move through and experience place.
The team worked together previously on signage and product solutions for airports, transportation terminals and other high traffic public spaces, and this prior working experience allowed for a prompt response to the needs of their respective clients and community, in order to adapt spaces to new distancing and sanitation conditions.
“In these uncertain times, no one knows what the new normal would be. Our objective is to use our combined experience of over 100 years to add some certainty to help people and companies to navigate through these times,” said Armond Shahinian, partner at PCL Graphics.