As the world continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and adapt to these unprecedented times, HD is checking in with members of the hospitality industry around the globe to find out how their businesses are being impacted and what they anticipate will change down the line.
Alon Baranowitz and Irene Kronenberg, Baranowitz + Kronenberg
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
Irene Kronenberg: We are both very optimistic and emphatic people and have developed our studio and our wonderful team as an extension of our home and family. Keeping the family together during these times is the most challenging part of all.
Alon Baranowitz: As the virus hit our shores, we gathered our team and made an unequivocal statement: ‘We are going into this together, and we are coming out of this together.’ One could see the immediate relief on the faces of our team and the acknowledgment that these unique times call for unique efforts and a commitment that we are all responsible for each other. This statement empowered [our team] by the sheer understanding that as a group we can make it through.
What is your current work situation?
AB: Luckily, most of our projects are either under construction or in their preliminary stages—a reality where one can’t put on hold anything due to commercial obligations, while the others use the time to contemplate and develop ideas at a slower pace.
IK: Our team now has the liberty of working from home or the office—they have their own families, kids to attend to, and anxieties and mental pressures to deal with—so we allow them to divide their day as they see fit as long as targets are met.
AB: Lagging behind tasks is inevitable during these times of unprecedented difficulty and truly existential concerns, yet it is touching to see team members covering for their friends and filling in the gaps.
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
AB: It’s clearer than ever how much can be achieved while working remotely, which puts the notion of traveling in a new perspective: Do we really need to travel so much in order to achieve our goals? No, we don’t. This will dramatically improve the quality of our life and planet.
The notion of slow becomes paramount as well. As the world shifts into lower gears, we have time to pause and reflect. These are transformative times that allow us much more of a chance to revisit our work and daily operations, as well as managing methods and tools. We have become masters of doing more with less, which is a fantastic feeling that transcends Mies’s proverb ‘less is more’ to a totally different dimension.
What is your pulse on the industry?
IK: Many requests for proposals are currently on hold as clients throw any unnecessary weight overboard into the choppy waters. Projects that are under construction are moving forward as much as possible, while conceptual thinking is still appreciated by clients who wish to use these times efficiently. We converse with all of our clients and use this opportunity to share beyond business. After all, we are all humans in need of human contact, virtual or not.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
AB: The world as we know it is gone. We will step out into a different world once this is all over, and resilience will be key. We foresee a different and back-to-basics mindset on a global level. We will be more in tune with our inner selves as the current time teaches us the value of simpler things, of our local place, community, and nature.
IK: Hospitality will embrace these currents of values and will shift from self-tagging to self-empowerment in pursuit of a holistic health and wellbeing. We will see less ‘living in a bubble’ concepts and more conscious and down-to-earth directions that address wellbeing in its purest definition.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
AB: We are optimistic and use every hurdle in our life as an opportunity to move forward to a better place. Confined to our apartment, which is unaccustomed to host us with such intensity, we suddenly realize why we love it so much. We cook a lot and spend much time in the kitchen while Zoom-dining with friends and family. [We’re] taking it day by day.
Will Meyer and Gray Davis, Meyer Davis
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
Will Meyer: The most challenging aspect of the pandemic is the speed at which we had to react to it. Within a week’s time, we went from having our employees disinfect their workstations multiple times throughout the day, to planning for a rotating remote versus in-office work schedule (to increase social distancing), to doing a trial remote workday that ended up becoming indefinite. I’m glad to say that we got through it without many hiccups, and luckily our employees are, for the most part, set up to work remotely, but it was still a shock to go through so many transitional phases in a very short amount of time. We are a very collaborative studio—we all interact with one another in communal spaces on a daily basis.
What is your current work situation?
Gray Davis: I’m working from my home in Upstate New York ,and Will is working from his home in Nashville. We have regular Zoom meetings with our directors and admin team, and Will and I like to FaceTime with designers directly. A couple of years ago we made the decision to organize the studio into teams, which each focus on their own family of projects. With the current climate, we’re breaking these barriers a bit and are really looking at our deadlines with the entire staff in mind, so that everyone stays busy and has the support they need, regardless of how their team’s projects are developing.
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
WM: One positive for Gray and I is that we have less distraction. Our offices are open plan, and our private office door is always open, so a lot of our typical workday is taken up with walking around the office to touch base with people and having people pop into our office with questions or updates. We typically draw in a big open central space that invites interaction with the other designers. Now, we’re both drawing in more quiet, intimate settings, and we’ve both felt a sense of calm in that. It’s a reminder to us both of how much we love to draw and how important it is to our practice.
In terms of lessons learned, we spent the first week of working remotely troubleshooting tech issues with our IT company. It was actually a good exercise because we were all feeling, in real time, the issues that remote workers deal with and prioritized solving them. Hopefully, this will help us continue to offer opportunities for remote work in the future, which was something we were already thinking about.
What is your pulse on the industry?
WM: We’ve had multiple projects that are unable to proceed with construction, which impacts schedule. Some projects that have to pause on field work are making use of this time for development or coordination. We’ve reached out to all of our clients to touch base on what’s possible given the environment we’re in, and also just to check in on a personal level and see how people are doing.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
GD: Hospitality will absolutely come back, and with a renewed appreciation for it. Not only do I think people are going to be yearning for opportunities to escape, they will also be seeking to spend their time—and money—with intention. I would guess that we will see hospitality trend away from efficient hotel rooms or hotels that cater to a work-life [balance] scenario, and instead see more of a focus on travel for the sake of cultural immersion and vacation in the truest sense. I’m hopeful people will have an added appreciation for restaurants and the work of that community. Hopefully, that support for food and beverage means opportunities for design.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
GD: One benefit to us both is having time to spend with our families. Will and I both travel a lot—he has this time to be with his wife and kids, and I’m enjoying being at home with my husband. That’s something that we can both be very grateful for, albeit within unfortunate circumstances.
James Flick and Matt Mars, Flick Mars
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
James Flick: The most challenging part was the logistics of getting our team members set up to work from home. We never believed interior design was an industry that could work from home. Thankfully, we were proactive and began encouraging our team to work from home two weeks prior to Dallas issuing its shelter in place order, and we were able to get everyone set up at their homes safely before the threat worsened.
What is your current work situation?
JF: We were already a very collaborative office and have continued to be by staying connected with daily through video conferencing. We set up a structure of daily team meetings for all projects to keep them moving forward and meet deadlines.
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
Matt Mars: Necessity is the mother of invention. We have been put in a difficult situation and forced to find solutions. This experience has taught us that with our collaborative team members and technology, we are able to create and produce remotely in ways we never thought possible.
What is your pulse on the industry?
MM: We have had some projects go on hold, however, we are seeing that some clients are using this time as an opportunity. With low interest rates and low hotel occupancy, they are able to keep renovation construction moving forward. We are staying connected with our clients the same way we are staying connected with our office, through video conferencing and phone calls, and we’re actually finding that people are more focused and accessible for communication while working from home. Through existing and new relationships we have even been able to take on a few new projects.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
MM: Our main concern is the safety and health of everyone. The whole world is going to be changed from this pandemic, and we are taking this enhanced connectivity as a positive into the future of our firm. We have faith that the hospitality industry will recover. A pent-up demand for travel is building across the world from people being quarantined to their homes. Unlike the protracted recovery of 2008, we feel demand will come back stronger than ever. Travelers might change their destinations based on cost and distance, but there will be a positive release to the travel industry.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
JF: Human nature is fascinating and uplifting. We are seeing a shift in societal norms and people are starting to turn on their webcams when they were reluctant at first. We have never had client meetings with hoodies and golf hats on in the past, but it is happening now. We are keeping track of the most interesting video conference backgrounds, and kitchen and living room ‘offices’ provide comic relief. We are also on a first-name basis with everyone’s pets. Through our weekly all-team video conference calls, we have seen people taking on new hobbies. One team member even got married last weekend.
Related stories:
3 Industry Leaders on Today’s New Normal
For more COVID-19-related news and stories from HD, click here.
