An Open Letter—We are One Industry, One Community in the Post-COVID World

To our global community partners, 

The built environment is our collective achievement, the legacy of our industry relationships. Our development decisions are always considered as a whole, and collectively we have knit a global community together.

Jointly, we are witnessing a fundamental shift in how we do business. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is presenting challenges everywhere, putting stress on our families, our communities, and our professions. During this time, we want to provide an update on how we are responding and planning for what’s ahead for how we partner with our clients and colleagues in the land use industry.

We are open for business.  

As new forces weigh heavily on our global community, what was once business as usual, is anything but. Collaboration has always been our firm's nature, and we were built to conduct virtual alongside in-person business. Our global teams are working from their homes, and we made immediate shifts in our operations, workflow, and communications to ensure all our projects stay on track. 

All project work was migrated to a cloud-based system, ensuring uninterrupted real-time design, modeling, and collaboration with our clients and key consultants. For weeks we have been working directly with our clients, partnering to provide solutions for their near-term design challenges that have surfaced in the past few weeks. 

We are focused on today and planning for what’s next.  

At the heart of our mission is the concept of resilience, which recognizes that the design of our buildings and cities must constantly evolve, adapting to and preparing for a changing world. We are working with many clients and industry partners on immediate needs, such as blocking and seating scenarios for organizations' essential staff. We are also working with retailers by formulating plans limiting the number of touchpoints a person has within a space and managing customer circulation when their stores reopen. These are just a few of the ways we are collaborating with our partners in the built environment.

As we work with our clients and partners to address immediate challenges, we are constantly incubating new ideas and seek answers to the important questions about the role design can play now and in the months to come. We have created a library of resources based on our experience and ongoing work, helping clients anticipate both new behaviors and immediate design challenges. These accessible resources can be found on our website and can be delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for our weekly Dialogue Now newsletter.

We are one community with one goal.  

While our offices in many countries and cities have temporarily closed their physical doors, we remain virtually open and are always available to work directly with you. Wherever you are, you can connect with us by video conference or phone call. 

Right now is a generational moment in history, a time when our community stands behind one another and pulls together instead of facing uncertainty alone. We are committed to working together with our clients and partners in land use to address the health safety issues of our buildings and cities. We will do this one healthy project, and one safe community at a time.

We will continue to work alongside you as the roadmap continues to unfold, and look forward to seeing you again in person.