HANDS OFF

WILL HOSPITALITY DESIGN THRIVE IN THE LOW-TOUCH ECONOMY?

The desire to stay hands-free is changing the world as we know it. As guests now rate hotels on their sanitisation skills, will the need for contactless interactions hamper or enhance hotel design?

The 16th edition of online discussion forum Cosentino City Live! brought together four forward thinkers from the design industry to take on this provocative topic. Taking part were Firas Alsahin, co-founder and design director of 4Space Design; Isabel Pintado, senior vice president of Wilson Associates; Lee Worthington, managing director MENA, JPA Design; and Vera Dieckmann, founder of XO Atelier. The event was moderated by ITP Media Group’s Commercial Interior Design editor Jane O’Neill.

The debate centred around the low-touch economy, the way businesses across the globe have been forced to operate in order to succeed as a result of COVID-19.

What has been the initial impact of the low-touch economy on hospitality design? Can you identify what will be short-term fads and long-term trends?

Isabel Pintado: I think what we have all seen from the beginning are the things that have become compulsory for hotel guests; such as, when you are interacting with another individual, there is a screen.

I think that is going to become intrinsic. It’s short-term but, really, there is going to be a long-term need, too. You need to protect your staff, so you need to process the design to be factored in to do that.

We see the short-term solution right now with these sheets set at the base or suspended from the ceiling. It’s done differently in Europe, differently in the States, but at the end of the day, it’s the same solution – a barrier to protect the people on either side of the sheet.