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.
Matt Berman, Workshop/APD
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
Workshop/APD has been around for 20 years, and luckily we learned a number of vital lessons from the downturn in 2008. However, there’s so much about this situation that is completely without precedent. We began preparing for the possibility of a shelter-in-place scenario in early March and were ready when we moved our team to work from home on March 16th. But we are an extremely collaborative multidisciplinary team of almost 50 architects, interior and product designers, and support staff and we’ve had to find ways to maintain the connective tissue that makes the firm so unique.
What is your current work situation?
Our entire team is working remotely. I’m very grateful that we had the resources in place to ensure that everyone had the hardware, software, tools, and connectivity in place to do their jobs from home. The next step, making sure everyone is engaged, productive, and inspired is even more crucial for us.
In addition to our weekly all-office meeting, team and project status, and client presentations, we’ve implemented regular virtual lunches, internal presentations, and happy hours to keep the staff connected.
Of course, we have had to make some hard decisions as well, which we made early and in the best interest of our core staff. Our team is our family, and many have been with us for more than 10 years. We’re committed to seeing this through with them. However, with an office to run, we’re extremely conscious of our financial runway, which we’ve been told should be aimed at six–nine months. Essentially, our available cash reserves, plus a portion of our accounts receivable (what we can realistically collect), plus projected billing during this time, plus whatever government support is available should equal six to nine months of expenses. The government’s PPP loans will help as well. We’ve tried to balance that math with our commitment to our staff and our family, which does require us to look at every decision we make through a more critical lens right now.
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
We are definitely growing more and more adept at working from a distance, which will be valuable on projects where properties and client teams are more remote. Technology that might have frustrated us before now feels like a lifeline, and we’ll continue to find new ways to use those tools. There’s also an industry-wide spirit of cooperation and support that I think is really beautiful. I hope that even in a competitive, service-focused industry we all will come out better collaborators.
Any time you have to step back and reassess, you become very aware of the things you are lucky to have: Incredibly committed people, and to be in an industry that offers a tremendous amount of support.
What is your pulse on the industry?
It’s been surprising to discover that people are seeing opportunity on the other side of this. We’ve had a few new business opportunities arise in the last month, and we’re grateful that we’re equipped to respond to them from our new “offices” and begin to move them forward through the design phases.
We’ve been in touch with our clients every day—providing reassurance, explaining logistical challenges, working to find practical solutions to construction delays and supply chain and staffing issues, and helping to navigate complicated city, state, and federal rules around essential and non-essential work. We want to be respectful of whatever unique challenges our clients might be facing. We know many are worried about the pandemic’s financial and societal implications, but we also want to help them make the best decisions for the project based on current conditions and help them see it realized.
As a firm we’re also extremely focused on craft, and we know this has been a hard time for many smaller workrooms, makers, artisans, and craftsmen. It would be catastrophic for them to not come out on the other side of this. To support the makers and other manufacturers, we created an open-source guide for the A&D industry, so specifiers can easily figure out who is operational, their capacity, and how to reach them now.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
I do think COVID-19 will change the way we travel, and perhaps how hotels, restaurants, and other spaces are designed. Most people have never spent so much time in their own homes, so they are learning what they love and hate about them. This new perspective and self-awareness could inform design at all levels.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
I’ve been sheltering in my parents’ home in Florida with my husband and son so there’s been lots of quality family time and sunshine. I haven’t spent this much time with my parents since I left home at 18, and we surprisingly haven’t killed each other yet. It’s something I never expected would happen for an extended period, but my son is having the time of his life and my parents are loving it. We’re watching movies, playing in the yard, playing board games—taking advantage of this unforgettable opportunity to connect.
Matt Davis, Anwar Mekhayech, Allen Chan, DesignAgency
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
Anwar Makhayech: The most challenging aspect of this whole pandemic is how quickly and unexpectedly it all came about. The fact that you can go from 100 to zero in a matter of days as a planet is really eye-opening. On a business level, the challenge is about staying together as a team, a family, and being connected to each other and our clients so we can move through this together. There is a lot of work still going ahead, and we need to stay connected so that we can feel inspired.
Matt Davis: I thought the biggest challenge would be virtualizing the studio, but that was relatively smooth due to some monumental efforts by our operations team. The most challenging part is managing all the guesswork and analytic forecasting that goes into predicting the return to the ‘new normal.’
Allen Chen: It’s been challenging to predict what is going to happen with projects and clients on a weekly basis. We are staying on top of all the current news and predictions to help deal with the uncertainty of the situation and are, of course, having to be flexible and adaptable as things change.
What is your current work situation?
AM: We have everyone working from home across our studios in Toronto, Los Angeles, DC, and Barcelona. We are checking in regularly with everyone on platforms like Slack and Zoom, and sometimes we enforce the use of video conferencing because it’s good to see people’s faces (and their pajamas) to build a stronger connection across our teams. As a partner, I am communicating more now, even though we’re remote. We have shifted a few things around and unfortunately had to furlough a few team members and reduce some hours, but we are trying to be proactive for the wider good so that we can support as many employees for as long as possible.
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
MD: Our studios were always tight-knit, but the current situation has reinforced our DesignAgency family. We are finding that our teams are much more openly sharing ideas, books, films, articles, and other personal interests. One of our designers even took it upon himself to give online fitness classes to the rest of the studio. It’s truly amazing seeing everyone find new ways to connect.
What is your pulse on the industry?
AM: Staying connected and speaking to our clients is key. This drives everything. Out of all our clients, it seems that hospitality projects have taken the hardest hit in terms of project development and cashflow. While many projects are on hold, many are still soldiering through, and we are seeing new RFPs almost every week. With hotels, we are looking at a few years out on each project regardless, so if the site and the financing are already sorted, then now is a great time to plan and design.
One step we are taking to stay connected is launching our own DesignAgency podcast that will be in conversation with many of our clients. We want to share conversations and content with our industry, because a lot of people are finding comfort in the sharing of information right now. I find that talking about personal experiences and what people are learning from all of this helps make everyone feel that they are not alone.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
AM: Things will change and we will see a phased-in approach to the new normal, but it will come back. I hope there will be a ton of new design initiatives that will emerge to help society be more efficient and safe while allowing people to do what they love: travel, explore, dine, dance, and relax.
MD: The need for social interaction and experiences will never go away, and in some ways it may surge once this is behind us. I do think, however, that certain concepts will shift or cease as we know them—not sure people are going to be keen on buffets, for example.
AC: Our current clients are talking about changing designs that have been approved for months in order to adapt to the new norm—whatever that may look like.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
AM: What I find the most encouraging on a daily basis is how well the country and its leaders have been handling everything in Canada, and when I hear stories about animals taking back parts of the world that we had pushed them out of, or that the ozone layer is actually healing from this downtime—I think of all the silver linings that maybe we had to be forced to do.
Ben Pundole, EDITION Hotels
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
The most challenging part is not knowing when this will end or how things will pan out, while knowing the travel and hospitality industries have taken a real hit.
What is your current work situation?
EDITION is a Marriott brand, so like thousands of others, I’ve been furloughed for three months. I completely understand. EDITION has incredible leadership, and we have weekly team meetings so we’re all still connected all the time.
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
I’ve been interviewing notable people on Instagram live on my travel platform @ahotellife, as a way to keep people informed, connected, and entertained.
What is your pulse on the industry?
All our partners at EDITION have been amazing and are continually offering support. We have long, deep relationships with clients so I’m hoping the support continues as we return to some kind of new normal.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
The recovery efforts will be very gradual. Food and beverage first—with new menus that offer comfort and wellness—followed by rooms that will undergo a rigorous new daily cleaning regime. I do think that all businesses will have to focus more on impact, wellbeing, and purpose to be relevant in the future.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
Sunday was Easter and a good friend’s birthday, so we had a Zoom party. We all dressed up, baked, and raved to a three-hour DJ set that was compiled from amazing DJs and producers from all across the world!
Sanjit Manku, Jouin Manku
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
Having even more work to do in a situation when it is hard to be efficient—taking care of the studio and the team, but also anticipating the future for us and our clients.
What is your current work situation?
We have to juggle a lot of administrative tasks, predict the unpredictable, and stay positive in this unknown situation. However, it hasn’t been as difficult as we thought. You are getting other things done, and it is also very nice to discover where and how your team live—it becomes more personal and everything is more mixed.
What is your pulse on the industry?
Some projects are stopping and others are being pushed back. In the hospitality sector, it is a good time to start preparing for when people come back. We don’t know what’s next, and it will be an interesting journey.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
One of the issue we are going to have is how much money people will have to spend to travel and have fun. It is a bit of a gamble. The moment we get out of the crisis, you still need to celebrate important moments and spend time together. Humanity will not change, but the game will be different.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
I’ve been spending time with family and doing normal things together—preparing dinner, helping with homeschooling.
Related stories:
3 Industry Leaders on Today’s New Normal
3 Design Duos on Making the Most of Trying Times
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