The impact of COVID-19 on the design of apartment buildings: a case study of Bahrain

The outbreak of COVID-19 at a global level has caused disruptive effects and massive changes to the ways we live, work, socialize and interact. The images of deserted offices, schools, businesses, and cities around the world are horrifying and clearly demonstrating the inter-connectivity of our eco-system. “Stay Home, Social Distancing and Masked City” are few of the mottos that have emerged in the attempt to fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It is one of the few events in the history of humanity in which the world is subject to a common threat and unified in its vulnerability despite countries' differences in geopolitical, social and economic systems. In addition to the discussions on health and economic impacts of the pandemic, there is growing debates on the resiliency and place-making of the built environment. Work from home and the growth of E-commerce did not bring only changes to our customary work and living systems; but have challenged many of the established Urban and Architecture paradigms, to name few: compact city, urbanization, building height, construction materials and smart technologies. The shifts focus more - and will continue - on health, safety and quality of the built environment. In light of the above, the paper focuses on the design of residential buildings in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It aims to contribute to the growing debate on the subject of the built environment resilience in the case of pandemic outbreaks by analysing the design trends and the changes and discussions that have emerged during COVID-19 in literature. The paper also demonstrates the design approach used by the Architecture students of the University of Bahrain. The paper develops a set of parameters covering design issues, construction changes and technological aspects within the framework of health, safety and quality. It emphasizes on the need for adaptive measures to enhance the built environment resilience and to ensure preparedness when the un-thinkable happens.