SINGAPORE - The coronavirus pandemic has forced designers, architects and business owners to go back to the drawing board and rethink the future of the workplace. Last year, "new normal" was a term bandied about to address social distancing at the office, contactless technology and high-tech anti-microbial materials. But this year, with the more virulent strains of Covid-19 sweeping across Asia, those initial solutions are not enough, say architects and designers. Property owners across industries from banking to the services sector are coming up with more cost-effective and creative ways to redesign workplaces, factoring in uncertainties such as the community spread of virus mutations which could take longer to control.