What will high-end hotels, restaurants, offices and retail spaces look like in a post-Covid world? – The National

What will high-end hotels, restaurants, offices and retail spaces look like in a post-Covid world? – The National

If space is the ultimate luxury, how will public spaces evolve?

















Space will become a luxury, but people do not want to feel isolated, says Jonathan Ashmore, founder of design and architecture firm Anarchitect. Courtesy Anarchitect







"This will affect human culture. It'll change human habits,“ says Jonathan Ashmore, founder of Anarchitect, a design and architecture practice with branches in Dubai and London.



Much has changed in the past six months, but the full ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic will take much longer to reveal themselves. From how we interact with each other to how we utilise shared spaces, it is possible that our new awareness of the threat of a global health crisis will influence our behaviour and thought patterns even after a vaccine for Covid-19 has been developed and distributed.



'People don't want to feel isolated'



Will the design of high-end restaurants, hotels, luxury offices and retail outlets need to adapt as a result? And, given that maintaining a distance from each other has become the new norm, will space become the ultimate luxury?



Yes and no, says Ashmore. "The problem is, that's not necessarily what people want. They