How to inject soul and sophistication into a safe design solution
Celebrated architect Achilleas Kritikos of The Interesting Design, combines function and form to create seamless designs that take away the not-so-pleasant reminders of the pandemic by creating cosy, intimate spaces to truly enjoy Greek summer. As tourism industry professionals scramble to find ergonomic solutions to travelling safely and enjoying fragments of a normal summer holiday, designers have been trying to make these ‘distancing’ conditions as aesthetically appealing as possible.
The tourism sector has strengthened its position as one of the world’s foremost drivers of socio-economic development. Along the way, it has demonstrated its resilience by overcoming major challenges. Today, tourism faces another global challenge arising from the current health crisis. The tourism sector will have to provide calm, consistent, collective responses to restore travellers’ mobility and peace of mind. How do you enhance safety protocols with beauty and add some soul to soothe already battered guests visiting restaurants and hotels?
The tourism sector needs to respond to this new reality by designing solutions focused on safety measures, sanitizing methods and addressing the more emotional challenge of regaining travellers’ trust without losing out on spontaneity and aesthetics to become truly welcoming, safe environments.
Restaurants and hotels will have to adapt to the new normal by adopting innovative design to creating an elegant environment by providing a sense of security while allowing the operation of business to be as unhindered as possible.
Innovation is the only way to develop sustainable, value-added solutions to mitigate the effects of this health crisis.
As the world looks for ways to walk calmly and safely in the age of Covid-19, the tourism sector will be most severely tested. The seemingly paradoxical concepts of being safe and being carefree are intertwined and designers will need to bear in mind the psychological effects of maintaining distancing without the oppression of being confined to a limited space.
As an interior designer who specializes in hotel and restaurant design, Achilleas Kritikos presents his study on beaches, swimming pools and restaurants and cafes. It proposes the use of dividers with the aim of creating a safe, elegant and efficient environment.
One of the conditions that hotels and restaurants will have to comply with, in the common public areas, will be the observance of minimum distances. The addition of privacy, however, is a factor that can only work positively in dealing with our new normal. According to previous studies in luxury travel, the concept of privacy has always been high on visitors’ wish lists in luxury hotels, and now it seems that what used to be a wish is now a necessity. The placement of dividers in the mentioned places will be a welcome surprise for the visitor, who will not have to feel embarrassed or anxious about having a fellow-guest too close for comfort. At the same time, however, the entrepreneur will not need additional staff to monitor the observance of safety distances between sunbeds, umbrellas and tables or to impersonate the “traffic warden” himself.
The partitions that are proposed are light non-permanent constructions that offer the possibility to the owner to adapt them to the style and aesthetics of his business.
For the beaches, it is recommended: Separators from natural materials such as wooden frames “dressed” with reed (wicker) in combination with transparent polycarbonate sheet or triplex glass that does not crumble. In their construction, other materials can be used depending on the style of each space.
Achilleas Kritikos
For the pools, the following are recommended: Separate plywood partitions with a metal frame, painted white or in any colour, in order to match the style and aesthetics of the space.
For dining areas (restaurants/cafes) are recommended: Table dividers with metal frame and polycarbonate transparent sheet or triplex glass. Ideal material as it does not crumble.
