Design and the COVID-Effect
Naked Spouses in Your Zoom Background. Lack of Privacy. How will Lockdown Impact Interior Design?
Twenty years ago when my wife and I decided to renovate a 120-year old Victorian brownstone we had many tough choices to make. First among them was whether to preserve or deconstruct the maze of rooms that mark the style of the period, or update to a more modern living. When research found that much of the old designs were about lifestyle of the period, it made it much easier to tear down some things and keep others, with the result being a hybrid of privacy-focused walls and flow-focused openings.
We’ve debated that decision over the years whenever we thought we needed more space or more sunlight, but never really knew what a good decision we made until our family of three teens and two adults had to manage COVID lockdown and five distinct spaces for work and schools.
Yet, after being stuck at home and getting sucked into design and renovation shows on HGTV and all the attention paid to open floor plans, we still second-guess that decision. But understanding that many of those shows were shot prior to COVID, it led to the question of how lockdown and its aftermath might be impacting interior design now and into the near future.
According to Trystin Kier Francis, of the Washington DC-based design and lifestyle brand company, The Kier Company, the time in lockdown has given people plenty of extra time to ponder what they assumed worked but now does not. It also has forced the design world to rethink priorities, “You go through all of your classes in design and architecture school, but there’s no class called ‘Designing in a Crisis’. Nothing teaches people how to rethink design during a global pandemic,” said Francis.
“For so many years, the home was just a place you rested. The home is now an essential part of your life flow, and a lot of people never realized how uncomfortable their house was until they spent time in it 24/7. People are calling saying ‘I hate this sofa’ because they never really spent more than few minutes a week on it.”
Because of increased need for privacy, one of the major rethinks has been on that vexing open plan concept.
Said Francis, “Lockdown has shown that while an open concept provides open views and flow, that’s not always desirable. You can see everything. People are walking by in your Zoom, or their movements are limited so they won’t be. Designers are looking at ways to reconstruct the environment to make homes more COVID-efficient.
“We’re looking at how you share space. Social distance is a real thing in the home. You may not need to be socially distant from your family medically, but you need it when you have to step away and take a call or have a class.”
He added, “There are so many things to think about — lighting so you don’t have to look so dark on screen or re-positioning furniture so natural light is facing you instead of behind you. We are considering solutions for sound-proofing so you don’t hear what’s going on outside, and your dog. How do we do that, without it looking like egg crates on your walls, and in ways that are both beautiful and smart for design?”
Some homeowner requests go beyond aesthetic design and into function, such as installing air filtration systems and misting devices that release sanitizers into the air every hour. “We’re looking at surfaces that resist bacteria and are also easy to clean, which is somewhat unrealistic since not much like that really exists, but we have to consider that and keep studying it. Some of what people are asking is not yet a practical reality.”
The changes extend into commercial design, as well, even as the commercial real estate is suffering a downturn in interest during COVID.
Ernie Jarvis, CEO of Jarvis Commercial Real Estate, is also seeing nostalgia for the days of corner offices.
According to Jarvis, “Over the last 10 years, open space has been driving office spaces for the purpose of collaboration, communication and innovation, but post-COVID there will likely be a strong swing to the other side, with more individual offices. People are also focusing on things like limits (to the number of people) on elevators, and systems operated by keycard instead of pushing buttons.”
Also, Jarvis suggested, people going back to work should expect limits in conference rooms and kitchen areas, more self-imposed changes in usage as opposed to changes in design.
“That said, I’m advising people that if you sign a 5–10 year lease, you should build offices that can be demolished and turned back into an open concept down the line, because people soon forget,” Jarvis noted.
But unlike Francis who thinks the work-from home-movement will be a lasting result of lockdown, Jarvis thinks the shift will be temporary.
“I do think people will go back as soon as CEOs think they can adequately address their concerns”, Jarvis said. “While people are certainly enjoying the flexibility of working at home, from a productivity perspective I think CEOs want to see people. They want people at the water cooler, that’s where information spreads and ideas get traded.”
Jarvis cited the lessons of the 9–11 tragedy. “It was a shock to the system, but 18–24 months later, the shock was over. The vaccine is here, the end is on the horizon. CEOs are feeling isolated and dislocated, and if the CEO feels that way, they will get the employees back in.”
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