Excerpt from Business Insider
- In light of the coronavirus pandemic, hotels are planning significant changes into their architecture and design.
- We talked to hospitality designers and architects for their take on the future of hotel design.
- The hotel stay of the not-so-distance future will involve touchless systems, multifunctional spaces, and conference rooms that open up to the outdoors.
- Experts agree that gyms are likely to be replaced by in-room fitness offerings, with one expert even predicting that gym equipment will be ordered to private rooms like room service.
The global pandemic halted travel in the short term, but its effects are going to last into the foreseeable future — and possibly forever.
Hotel designers and architects are reworking existing projects and starting new ones with a focus on social distancing and contact-free systems. That means we can expect to see fundamental changes to hotels' meeting spaces, lobbies, guest rooms, and food and beverage options.
The name of the game, hospitality designers say, is flexibility. They're working to create spaces that can evolve with the realities of public health as well as with the needs and preferences of guests. And while these concepts are designed with an eye on the future, even a vaccine isn't likely to derail some of the changes now in place.
"I don't think the whole notion of health and safety is going to go away," Gensler principal Tom Ito told Business Insider.
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