Jon Niemuth with AECOM talks with Shield Lockers about the impact of COVID-19 on sports architecture
What’s waiting for sports venues and athletic facilities on the other side of this pandemic? There’s a lot of speculation and ideas gaining momentum as to where design could or should go as we emerge from this complex crisis.
Shield Lockers recently had a conversation on this topic with Jon Niemuth, AECOM’s Director of Sports, Americas. AECOM is the world’s premier infrastructure firm driven by a common purpose of delivering a better world. Jon Niemuth is celebrating 25 years at the firm this November, dating back to the former KC-based Ellerbe Becket. He earned his Masters in Architecture and Urban Planning/City Planning from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and he uses over two decades of sport venue analysis and design experience to drive the architecture, engineering, economics, and cost management strategies for AECOM’s sports market.
Here’s what Niemuth has to say in response to the impact of COVID-19 on sports architecture.
Ahead of the curve
As a global infrastructure services provider, AECOM was aware that something was going on in the market in February of this year. “Maybe we didn’t appreciate it or know what it meant, but what turned out to be the COVID-19 pandemic was already impacting our operations in Asia. Our senior leadership was well aware of it and monitoring it’s progression around the globe,” says Niemuth.
“We got an internal note that said we’re going to start to restrict travel, which initially caused a lot of uncertainty and anxiety across the teams,” says Niemuth. “Our mindset was that if we couldn’t get on a plane then we weren’t going to get hired.” But by the middle of March, the precautions taken by AECOM were realized on a global scale. “Initially we had some pushback on the use of video conferencing with restricted travel, but a couple of weeks later, organizations across the entire nation were being told they’d have to follow similar paths.”
AECOM has pioneered several design markets through extensive research, analysis, and practice around a design principle they call resiliency. “Take for example the potential impact of rising sea-levels on coastal areas and the impact that could have on the design of infrastructure, roads, homes, schools, bridges, etc.—that’s resiliency,” says Niemuth. “Think about post-hurricane Sandy recovery work. If a hurricane hits New York again, how do we prevent flooding and maintain services as best as possible? Resiliency is design planning which creates that continuity.”
“For COVID, the primary focus for AECOM was sustaining our business,” says Niemuth. “We can’t contribute to the solution for this disaster if our firm is not responsible and taking precautionary measures that help mitigate any internal risk. An outbreak in the office would prevent us from helping our clients.”
The impact of COVID-19 on sports architecture
“In times of such uncertainty, the biggest challenge is preparing to keep services operational—resiliency. We have biocontainment engineers and specialists that were engaged almost immediately by the Army Corp of Engineers to evaluate temporary emergency care facilities. How can we create or reconfigure spaces to accommodate hospital surge capacities nationwide? The data that the team was accumulating soon hit the sports desk, driving the conversion of convention centers and stadiums into emergency rooms. Once that began to subside, the big question from sports clients became, how do we reopen?”
“For AECOM, it’s not an architecture problem, it’s not a site planning problem, it’s a matter of science and you have to bring experts to the table to discuss what new operational protocols should be,” says Niemuth. “Modernizing disinfection protocols is a priority for not just reopening, but moving forward into the foreseeable future. We started by engaging certified industrial hygienist (CIH) groups and evaluating the science behind their research and what they’re doing. Our goal was to better understand what does and doesn’t work, as well as how the methodology could be applied in various spaces throughout athletic facilities and sports venues. When we were engaged by ASM Global to start reopening venues, their new environmental protocols were supported by this CIH guidance.”
“We’re working with the NBA and NFL on addressing industrial hygiene protocols that support their facility operations, but the real trick they’re seeing is seating,” says Niemuth. “A universally accepted model says that you can safely accommodate 20% of capacity with CDC-recommended distancing protocols. However, some states are putting science aside and setting arbitrary percentages of capacity, which is creating confusion in the market and driving some clients into a state of paralysis. With so many different approaches, we’re dealing with a variety of different jurisdictional guidances. We would like to see uniformity in the near future. We want to see the industry get common knowledge quickly, and uniform guidelines will help us evaluate our effectiveness of gradually returning to live sports safely.”
As attendance restrictions begin to normalize, will fans feel safe enough to return? In the short term, creating a cleaner and more socially responsible environment backed by science might help fans feel safe enough to return. “We all want the same outcome,” says Niemuth. “A safe return to live sports, which is why facility operations have been a primary focus of ours for reopening.”
Design trends to come
“We want to introduce changes to design and operational protocols that not only help minimize the threat, but are also easier for fans to embrace,” says Niemuth. “We’re seeing different fan behaviors across the country, and we’re trying to deliver a message to an overwhelmed client base. They’re getting it from all sides and it’s difficult to comprehend. We don’t want to contribute to the chaos of the situation. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement on the asymptomatic spread of the virus contradicted the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). We knew it was incorrect, but it got to the population and everyone thought they were good. They eventually walked it back, but it goes to show that research requires a level of sophistication and verification to ensure you’re getting good information.”
“The mental and physical health impact of dealing with consequences related to the COVID outbreak has broken down barriers and made it a more open topic of discussion,” says Niemuth. “I believe that there will be easier adoption of things like touchless operations, optical ticketing, grab-and-go concessions or contactless purchasing—those barriers will be removed more quickly. Those are things we need to think about because it minimizes interactions, which is a principle that supports better health and wellness. We don’t need to rip out seats, but for the long term we will be re-evaluating seating, concourse, and concession design.”
Perhaps some of the most prudent advice from Niemuth is to be cautious of “hype tech” and to tackle these new challenges in phases. “Understandably, it’s easy to make decisions motivated by fear. Our clients just want to do the right thing, but we need to ensure decisions are being made with supportive research,” says Niemuth. “Also, this is a dynamic and evolving challenge, so the solution needs to be phased and flexible so that you can adapt to changes and new developments, whether they’re anticipated or unexpected. I recommend making a plan for right now, say the next six months, for example. Right now, there’s going to be more tolerance for alternative behaviors among fans. Make those recommendations for them right now based on the science. Then let’s begin planning for the long haul.”
“At the end of the day though, we need to find ways to bring back that human interaction at sporting events,” says Niemuth. “There’s certain things people feel the need to do in person, and we can’t lose sight of these fundamental building blocks of the fan experience.
Learn more about AECOM’s Sports + Venues design expertise.
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