Contract Magazine - July 2020 - 16

FEATURE

Planning
for
Change
Leading designers share how
they're rethinking space design
and product specification amid
the COVID-19 pandemic.

How will commercial spaces shift to accommodate the
realities of a post-COVID-19 world? The design industry's
wheels are turning as architects and designers work with
their colleagues, clients, and communities to reconsider
and reshape the places where we work and live.
We asked 25 interior designers and architects
to share how they're currently rethinking workplace,
education, healthcare, hospitality, and urban environments.
Across the following pages, they share their ideas and
hopes for the future of space design-along with one
go-to, tried-and-true commercial product, as well as one
product that they're looking at more closely as they
consider our post-pandemic society.

Workplace
Manuel Navarro, IIDA
Principal, Design Director
IA Interior Architects
Austin, Texas

"I have always preferred to live and design through rose-colored lenses-
and these days, this is even more relevant. I don't believe that the workplace
is going away, nor do I think the workplace needs to turn into a sterile lab-unless
you are, in fact, working in a lab. We have an opportunity to rethink and retool
the workplace. We can further examine how work/life integration can improve
our lives and make the spaces we create more meaningful and humanistic. Over
the past several years, we've focused on finding that magic formula for the perfect
workplace density and flexibility, and I think recent world events have put that
into overdrive. Lately, our planning has been focused on challenging the density
agenda with an understanding that there will likely be an increase in flexible
remote working programs. In addition, planning has involved more emphasis
on circulation patterns and also incorporating home office solutions as part
of our furniture specifications. We are now looking beyond physical spaces
and designing different sensory worlds such as virtual meeting rooms. We are
also realizing that this is an opportunity to communicate design in a different
way, forgoing the traditional static design presentations and dabbling into
cinematic storytelling with video space walk-throughs. At the end of the day,
we are social beings and we need to be able to come together to share ideas,
collaborate, and tell stories. I, for one, am ready to get back to the office!"

Classic

New need

Bernhardt Design: Harper Rocking Chair
Watson Furniture: C9 Desk
"I use this chair, designed by Noé Duchaufour"The need for a home office setup is real-at least
Lawrance, frequently in projects-from building
for now. A marriage of utility and design, the C9
lobbies to conference rooms to collaboration ardesk features hidden motor mechanisms and
eas. It has a sense of nostalgia, a hint of sculpture, slim legs that make it an approachable piece of
and the versatility to stand alone in a reception
furniture rather than a robust corporate machine.
waiting area or in groupings to help support
The accessory and finish combinations allow
social behaviors."
you to dial it up or down in terms of aesthetic or
bernhardtdesign.com
function."
watsonfurniture.com

contractdesign.com

JULY 2020

http://www.bernhardtdesign.com http://www.watsonfurniture.com http://www.contractdesign.com

Contract Magazine - July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract Magazine - July 2020