While dealerships were allowed to remain open as essential businesses during COVID-19, they needed to make adjustments to keep everyone safe. There was no playbook. Our client needed to take steps to keep people safe and provide peace of mind to those that came to the facility.
Challenge
The dealership’s existing service area did not allow for proper social distancing. A single counter allowed opportunities for people to congregate.
Approach
Baker Associates provided two rounds of concepts, the first showing an overview of both temporary and permanent solutions:
- Temporary – if adjustments needed to be made for six months or less; and
- Permanent – if adjustments were anticipated to last upwards of a year or were anticipated to be permanent.
The second round expanded on two permanent solutions and focused more on the customer experience. It was necessary to provide a temperature-controlled area.
- One option provided a soffit above to provide direct heating/cooling for staff and guests, and another was fully enclosed. The client chose to price out the option that was fully enclosed.
- Since this was for a “luxury” brand it was critical that the newly created environment mimic the existing one located just inside the drive (visibly connected by glass).
SolutionS
The solutions resolved the social distancing issue by creating new pathways while also maintaining the design integrity of the space.
- All solutions took the CDC guidelines into consideration for both the employees and guests (6’-0” rule).
- Some solutions had a continuous counter, while others had separate counters.
- All solutions needed to also accommodate the MN Accessibility Code.
- All solutions were designed to ensure car maneuverability was feasible within the drive.
Please see “Helping Dealerships During COVID-19” for more details about the project.
Round one designs
Round two designs
