Design Middle East July 2020
July issue: https://bit.ly/2ZlnwgU
The post Design Middle East July 2020 appeared first on Design Middle East.
July issue: https://bit.ly/2ZlnwgU
The post Design Middle East July 2020 appeared first on Design Middle East.
Innerspace best known as the team who host Hacker Kitchens, Kaiser Kitchens, Hulsta Furniture ,and Rolf-Benz in the region, has reached a major business milestone – ten years of operations in the Middle East.
Innerspace celebrated the milestone with a re-launched showroom, showcasing the latest interiors innovations including an iconic and show-stopping Hacker kitchen. Featuring cabinets in Vintage Mocha with a luxe oak texture and Graphite Satin Lacquer with a silky finish, the new Hacker kitchen is striking and bold. The work surface is Nero Portoro marble from Italy, with a distinct structure formed over thousands of years. Integrated handle lighting makes the kitchen glow with life and can be adjusted to suit your mood. The latest Gen 7 cooking and cooling appliances from Miele, bespoke lighting from Bocci and the ingenious Quooker taps complete the look.
Innerspace opened their Hacker Kitchens showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road in 2010, with a team of two. With a vision of bringing excellence to the interiors market, in terms of design and customer experience, Innerspace quickly grew in both size and reputation. They now have a robust team of 35 people working across design and installation, collaborating with the region’s most renowned architects, interior designers and consumers. The Innerspace design team has over 100 years of combined experience at the pinnacle of European interior design.
Samir Ranavaya, MD of Hacker Kitchens UAE, comments: “When we launched Innerspace ten years ago, bringing outstanding brands including Hacker Kitchens, Rolf-Benz, Hulsta and Kaiser kitchens to the region, our vision was to bring excellence to the interiors market. We are immensely proud of what we’ve achieved in the last ten years and this has only been possible thanks to our team and the quality that they deliver to our clients and partners.”
Photography: Alex Jeffries Photography Group
How lighting automation allows centralised control, saves energy, and conveniently create the perfect ambience
By Roma Arora
Lighting is by more one of the most appealing and fascinating aspects of design and architecture. At the corner, up on the ceiling, in the centre, the correct lighting makes all the difference. Automation, on the other hand, is making this sector more interesting and challenging. Lighting control systems are an essential part of any urban infrastructure, commercial, hospitality or residential environment and serve to upgrade how we use and interact with lighting daily. They are fundamental to making our environments more efficient by allowing you to control each aspect of the lighting and use pre-set lighting scenes to influence the mood, architecture and functionality of that particular space.
DEFINING LIGHTING AUTOMATION
Lama Arouri, business development director at Nulty Lighting, says: “Lighting automation is undoubtedly a step forward towards safer, smarter, efficient and crucially, more sustainable cities and lifestyles. Both the Internet of Things (IoT) & LiFi can elevate lighting systems from a tangible physical product into valuable data. They not only contribute to creating more efficient projects but also help us gain a greater understanding of how spaces are used and how they can be managed more effectively.”
IoT is a broader connectivity concept that not only controls our lighting and security systems but moves us closer to a fully connected existence, where items such as coffee machines, fridges, washing machines, entertainment systems, alarms and energy metres are all linked. “This kind of technology is also capable of providing feedback on a very detailed level, such as frequency of space, device usage and fault reporting, all of which are vital when it comes the ongoing maintenance, reliability and efficiency of the scheme. Home automation is an important development that not only is simple to use, hands-on control but also enables us to analyse our energy consumption on daily basis,” further explains Arouri. “We refer to it as lighting controls, which gives the user the ability to control lighting in different scenes depending on the time of the day, the ambience, or the use of a project. It can be applied to a room, a whole office, a façade, and any other installations where light plays a crucial role in the design. Lighting has been proven to influence users’ moods as well as well-being, hence the importance of being able to control it with ease,” say Emma Davies, director and Dave Selby, technical manager at Integrity Project Solutions (IPS).
John Cullen Lighting specialises in designing and implementing bespoke lighting schemes for residential and hospitality properties.
Rebecca Crawford, design director at John Cullen Lighting comments: “Lighting automation is a seamless way of integrating endless moods into your everyday life. Gone are the days of just considering control to be about energysaving. It has the ability to impact what you purchase, how long you stay in a restaurant, and how you feel about your own home, and how we interact with the space around space. Even apps like Control4, Nest, SONOS, Apple Home Kit, and Lutron Connect are very popular in the given sector.”
COMING TOGETHER OF DESIGNER, ARCHITECTS, AND TECHNICIANS
One just cannot go alone and win the war. Same is the case here as well, for the success of a lighting project, the collaboration of architects, interior designer, lighting designer, and technicians is extremely important. Arouri states: “I can’t overstate the importance of a good architect, interior designer and lighting designer team. A really good lighting designer doesn’t just look at lighting design, they will advise on surfaces, finishes, textures, colours and mood. Lighting designers aren’t just installers, they assist in tailoring and developing the right solution for every project based on the client’s brief and requirements. In terms of lighting control, the interior designer and lighting designer need to work together collaboratively to consider how the use of the space will change over time, and how the control system can complement this to provide the best value.”
For Davies and Selby, working together is extremely beneficial and critical to achieve the desired goals. They share: “Our team works in coordination with lighting designers, architects, landscape designers, and interior designers in the selection of lighting controls. Our experience in the industry allows us to understand the needs of each project and to deliver the result that the client expects. Only with close coordination can a team achieve the full design intent in the integrity of a project. One of the challenges is making sure that a controls system is compatible with the type of fittings available. As experienced technicians, we verify that a proposed system is correct for the design intent and that it is buildable. There are times where it has been necessary to propose alternative solutions.”
AUTOMATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Challenges often go hand in hand with the budget. If you don’t invest in a quality lighting designer or a quality system that’s been tried and tested, results will always be compromised. Lighting automation has become easier to use, but that doesn’t mean effective integration is a simple process. It’s essential that you invest in a lighting designer with the right expertise to deliver a scheme that’s complexity is suitably tailored for the requirements of the space. Home automation is getting popular. Now affordable solutions are also available for villas and apartments. The luxury of changing light settings during different times of the day, for example, is now something everyone can have in their home. While it is true that the hospitality and commercial sectors have been the pioneers in the usage of lighting automation, home applications are now widely available. Arouri says: “When it comes to the region, depending on the project category, there are some great instances where lighting automation has contributed to a successful project. Both the Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab are notable examples. Unfortunately, as the Middle East is a very price-orientated market this isn’t always the case.” Arouri also feels that lighting automation will only grow in importance over the coming years as lighting designers adopt a more sustainable mindset and look to design lighting schemes that are both intuitive and efficient. She goes on: “As increasing use of 3D BIM enables ‘real-time’ review of the design at each stage of the process, the inclusion of changing lighting scenes would be a useful step. However, this is all currently limited by what can be achieved within realistic design fees. It will be exciting to watch how technology develops and the impact this has on the projects we deliver.”
Davies and Selby say: “We see the region’s focus on sustainability as one of the main drivers of the use of automation in lighting. The Middle East’s commitment to sustainable development calls for innovative solutions, and there is great potential in lighting installations.” Many companies can offer lighting control and automation solutions for the built environment, but often they lack the human approach and expertise required to create practical lighting schemes which have a positive impact on staff, clients, and homeowners. The applications themselves are becoming cleaner in their navigation and as users, as one is becoming more receptive to how technology is regulating our lives. We need to ensure that we only use this technology in a way that can enhance our lifestyles positively and healthily, and not control us.
Crawford notices: “There is often a fear in using automation as it is overly complicated. The reality is, automation should be simplistic and seek to make our everyday lives easier whilst enhancing our experiences and wellbeing. With the continuing advances in LED lighting technology, it has never been more important to control each light source. LED as a digital technology lends itself perfectly to digital control and therefore, we see traditional analogue lighting control systems such as dimmer switches being rendered obsolete in the coming years.”
Laurent Farge, general manager at ALEC FITOUT, on how digital transformation is the key to success in the future and how a solid crisis management plan must be put in place for uncertain times
By Roma Arora
The first impression is the last impression. For this, clients rely on fit-out services more than ever. Fit-out sector is considered as the backbone of the construction as well as design industry. One of the most promising and leading names in the MENA region is ALEC FITOUT— they specialise in the fit-out and refurbishment of five-star hotels and resorts, cultural, immersive, and luxury mixed-use developments.
Leading the brand to the highest standards of leadership and workmanship is Laurent Farge, general manager of ALEC FITOUT, who has been with the company since 2008, bringing with him 24 years’ experience of delivering luxury interior fit-out projects in Europe, the Levant, and the GCC. Over the years, Farge has played a crucial role in the growth and development of ALEC FITOUT across the region. The COVID-19 outbreak is an unprecedented situation for governments, companies, and societies. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has affected everyone globally, no matter what industry we are in.
Farge says: “Many projects across the region will suffer delays due to COVID-19. ALEC FITOUT operational teams are working closely with client and consultants on a project-by- project basis to mitigate time impact wherever possible. We will continue to focus on delivering luxury fit-out and refurbishment interior solutions for five-star hotels, mixed-use developments, and cultural projects in UAE as well as targeting new projects across the MENA region.”
In such challenging times, the events have been put on hold and postponed like Expo 2020. ALEC FITOUT was doing large-scale exhibition fit-out contracts for Expo 2020, including Mobility Pavilion, KSA Pavilion, Opportunity Pavilion, as well as building the ENOC Pavilion. What is the current situation now and how is it affecting your business? Farge answers: “ALEC FITOUT is very proud to be involved with EXPO 2020 and our teams are delivering a variety of exhibition fit-out contracts where our scope of works combines traditional fit-out with AV, media, theming, and content. Thankfully our projects there such as Mobility Pavilion, KSA Pavilion, Opportunity Pavilion, and ENOC are continuing with all project stakeholders keen to complete the works. In terms of impact, there will obviously be a time impact due to COVID-19, however, our site and support teams are working closely with Expo 2020 and our respective client teams to mitigate wherever possible and focus on delivery of world-class immersive and experiential solutions that will be a major part of the overall Expo 2020 visitor experience” The fit-out firm is working on a variety of projects at Dubai International Airport as well as luxury fit-out at the new Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Wasl Tower.
The firm is also completing major fit-out packages at Address Skyview by Emaar and also the luxury residential project, Marina Gate in Dubai Marina. In terms of COVID-19 measures, the ALEC FITOUT core value is their people and their safety. The operational teams are working very closely with the ALEC Group Health and Safety team to ensure a safe working environment and preventative practices are carried out on all projects irrespective of size or location. “We maintain consistent communication with project stakeholders including client and consultant teams to ensure all practical measures are in place and are strictly adhered to on-site,” informs Farge.
Amid the outbreak of coronavirus all over the world, digitisation is gaining prominence and is crucial for innovation. A large majority of players in the industry today recognise how digitization is affecting every part of their business too. Farge echoes the same and believes that digitisation is the key to succeed. ALEC is driving a number of initiatives to accelerate its digital transformation. In addition to having an innovation department which capably drives and assists with over 100 innovative initiatives per year, they have numerous developments occurring in our Digital Transformation space. Farge shares: “We are digitising our core through the implementation of an ERP process which aims to connect over 53 applications, 219 core processes, scores of departments/business units/sites and employees. The pandemic has forced us to introduce technology not previously considered for our industry. This technology has shown great potential to provide long term benefits.”
IT spend will change to incorporate digital advancements post COVID-19 situation and some of the technologies use cases are:
• Video and audio conferencing (Microsoft Teams) will replace the physical meetings as it showed huge productivity increase during this situation
• Enable mobility solutions will digitise all physical paper processes at project sites.
• AI and computer vision will provide a new frontier in the construction across multiple use cases like automating construction labour attendance, detect social distancing between labour, safety detection features and progress updates using images’ comparison
• IOT (Internet of Things) and wearable will provide new sensors’ solutions to track all construction projects’ objects (workforce, machines, cranes, hoists).
Farge has great business acumen and he foresees that there will be some interesting changes in the field of fit-out in the coming years. A major trend in the coming years will be the combination of traditional fit-out with immersive technologies such as AV, media, theming, and content. Farge elaborates: “A memorable visitor user experience is highly valued by operators and clientele and as such we will see immersive experiences integrated across retail, hospitality, and leisure solutions. As a result of this new emerging trend, we also expect to see more negotiated design-build projects with repeat clientele. Already we are working closely with our clientele to create (or receive an approved concept) and then ALEC FITOUT develops the design intent, budget and specialist packages as part of a single contract – thus facilitating timely delivery of a highly bespoke and specialist solution for the client to an agreed target budget.”
Farge’s focus is on quality and working on various kinds of projects that are challenging and exciting. They’ve been recently awarded a major luxury five-star hotel fit-out in Dubai. Farge is optimistic that there will be a lot of hotel refurbishments projects that would boost the business. He comments: “With the unfortunate delay of Expo 2020, we expect to see some more hotel refurbishment projects in Dubai in particular in the coming months. Our team is also targeting new projects in KSA – we expect to see a variety of large-scale fit-out projects there across hospitality, leisure, and entertainment sectors.” The global outbreak of the coronavirus is creating significant challenges for the organisations of all sizes. Farge is a visionary and feels that once this pandemic is over, the world would come out stronger. He says there some great learnings here as well.
“The foremost lesson to learn is that we have to have a solid crisis management plan in place that prepare us for all scenarios. A dedicated crisis team and a solid structure to support them is very crucial. Also, there have to be the measures in place to make all the employees feel at ease including a communication structure to be transparent with the situation and the decisions taken by the company. Last but not the least, develop and implement different tools and technologies to help your employees and your whole supply chain navigate through this challenging time.” “We believe employees will become more agile and comfortable with technology. Innovation will be a key driver and we will all develop a better sense of urgency and become more efficient. Speed will increase and we will become less wasteful,” signs off Farge.
June issue: https://bit.ly/2BgZ2vs
The post Design Middle East June 2020 appeared first on Design Middle East.
Aditi Patwari, textile artist and founder of Dea, on how COVID-19 will give rise to sustainability and local sourcing
It is safe to say we are living in unprecedented times. The onset of COVID-19 has completely changed the way we live and work. As part of the creative industry, my colleagues and I have faced an incredible number of changes in the last few weeks. As we slowly move out of lockdowns and curfews, we must think: how will we recover? What other changes can we expect in the near future, and how might we adapt to them?
While many are hoping for a return to “normalcy”, their idea of normal being the way things were before the pandemic, we know that life and work only move forward, not backward. As Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, ‘The only constant is change’. As designers, we need to solve the problems of today and tomorrow, not the problems of yesterday. We cannot afford to continue the same way we had before the pandemic, because the world is simply different. We need a massive shift in perspective, a deeper analysis of the new needs and situations of clients and consumers, and revised strategies to solve these new problems.
Looking at the textile and materials industries specifically, there are clear trends that can be seen. As key collaborators and suppliers of interior designers, architects, fashion designers and more, the effects on the textile industry will ripple into other creative industries. The industries are heading towards two clear textile trends.
As governments prepare care relief packages for their economies, the United Nations is urging them to align their COVID-19 strategies with incentives for climate change. Over 150 corporations including Burberry and YKK Group have pledged to set targets to reduce their carbon emissions and footprint. “With this restart, a window of hope and opportunity opens… an opportunity for nations to green their recovery packages and shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, safe and more resilient” – said the UN climate chief. Thus, we can expect a focus on cleaner production methods, environmentally sustainable materials and a better treatment of workers in the upcoming years. Conscious living has been on the rise and if governments follow suit, we can see this trend increasing exponentially.
Speaking of production methods, large textile manufacturers are currently dealing with major setbacks. To name a few; falling demand from major economies, a lack of raw materials, restricted workforce, delays in international shipping and even failure in fulfilling order commitments. Additionally, consumer needs and behaviour are changing rapidly. So only those who can steer these unsteady waters quickly and with flexibility will be the ones to persevere. As large production houses and suppliers strive to recover and find structure in their global textile supply chains, a major opportunity presents itself for regional textile and material suppliers.
International Labor Organization’s sectoral brief suggests that “the pandemic could affect the composition of global textile, clothing, leather and footwear supply chains and trade, and accelerate the re or near-shoring of production.” Independent regional boutiques can innovate, find new solutions, and implement them faster than their large counterparts. The regional presence of home-grown brands will become a necessity and will be treated with as much respect as big international players in the coming years.
The average lifespan of large multinationals has been declining rapidly in the last few years as new innovations and disruptive ideas gain traction. Covid-19 will accelerate this shift towards smaller, local companies that can build personalised services and relationships with clients. Further, there are vast amounts of benefits of sourcing textiles and materials locally. One of the main ones being that regional players don’t have the structural and shipment setbacks of large companies. This allows them to meet project deadlines and keep clients happy. This shift towards regional sourcing also opens up possibilities to develop the local design hub and aesthetics that speak to clients’ local sensibilities.
There is an abundance of local talent emerging in the Middle East and this is the time for them to step up to consumer demand and be at the forefront for the coming years. It is also up to us to support the growth of the local design hub. Above all, COVID-19 has given most of us time for reflection and consumers are looking for the human-centred design. Whether it’s through living more sustainably or supporting local communities, much of design will need to focus on humanistic aspects in the coming future.
Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, announces a new market-focused structure for its Atkins, Faithful+Gould, and Atkins Acuity brands in the Middle East & Africa.
The new business structure, which will take effect from July 1, 2020, will be based around two core markets of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with services and propositions aligned to country priorities and respective client projects. Providing a simpler and focussed structure will ensure Atkins is agile and responsive to customers’ needs with a services delivery model that is more efficient and responsive to evolving local market dynamics.
Cris Dedigama, CEO of Atkins, Middle East & Africa, commented: “The Middle East and Africa region continues to offer great opportunities for our business and this new structure will enable us to be laser-focused in our services and delivery to very localised and dynamic market and client needs. Our new business structure will help us achieve focused future growth, through a robust local presence in key markets. This market-facing structure is underpinned by over 50 years’ regional track record, strong client relationships, a powerful global network and innovative, technology-enabled delivery capabilities.”
Johan Hesselsøe and Ian Redmayne will lead these markets as managing director, UAE and managing director, KSA respectively. Together with a seasoned leadership team dedicated to supporting existing and prospective clients in each market, Ian and Johan will manage the Company’s business growth strategy tailored to each country’s local requirements.
Over the past 50 years, Atkins has delivered many flagship projects in the Middle East. In the UAE, Atkins is currently supporting clients such as The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), MODON, and Miral on a number of transformational projects designed to meet current and future market demands. In KSA, Atkins is currently supporting a number of mega projects from developing masterplans, providing engineering for the built environment, providing PMO and cost management services, as well as strategic privatisation advice and digital asset management to major government entities.
How Mirodec is changing the look and feel of the healthcare establishments with its innovative glass products
Mirodec is revolutionising the way glass is used in the field of design and architecture. They are offering great products and technology, redefining the standards of the glass industry in the region. From 7-star hotels and presidential palaces to high-end residential villas, and retails shops, Mirodec’s diverse portfolio spans across major sectors including hospitality, residential, commercial, F&B, and governmental projects. “Recently, we witnessed a sharp increase in demand for our products in the healthcare sector. Due to hygiene and ease of maintenance, decorative glass has become a key component of hospitals’ interiors,,” says Michael Khoury, general manager of Mirodec Gulf.
A few years ago, Mirodec had successfully completed 15,000+ M2 of glass in the 5-star Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In 2019, the company handed over the challenging Burjeel Medical City and was awarded two other hospital projects in Kuwait and KSA. As a result of this trend, Mirodec was extremely proud of partnering with NMG, design and build turn-key solutions provider, specialising in creating sustainable modular interior solutions for a wide variety of industries, most notably healthcare. The company’s prime focus is designing, constructing and furnishing spaces that elegantly combine the highest levels of functionality with stunning aesthetics. Both firms mutually collaborated on several hospitals in the region. Locally the two main projects handed over in 2019 were ‘Latifa Hospital’ in Dubai and the ‘Specialized Rehabilitation Center’ in Abu Dhabi.
Khoury shares: “Today, in light of all that is happening around the world, one cannot but fully appreciate the value of such top establishments at a time where healthcare standards are of the utmost importance.” Specialized Rehabilitation Hospital is a new kind of speciality hospital that is revolutionising the future of rehabilitation in the region designed to ensure breakthrough therapy in a healing space. It is the nation’s first acute, sub-acute and long-term rehabilitation and care facility with outpatient capabilities, complemented by highly specialized skills and equipment, including the latest bionics and robotics located in the heart of the UAE’s capital. It provides evidence-based care and services to an increasing number of patients requiring rehabilitation care. Their mission is to be committed to providing all patients and their families the highest quality rehabilitation services, leveraging state-of- the-art technologies and harvesting the highest standards of clinical talent. Creativity, innovation, and continuous improvement shape their future.
Specialized Rehabilitation Hospital is licensed for 166 beds. Their core focus is aimed at their patients and their families. Patients will receive individualised care provided by a multidisciplinary team in a healing environment. Its striking design has a functional purpose with patient healing in mind. Mirodec proudly took on the task of meeting NMG’s many challenging design requirements. Despite having numerous different graphic designs in the hospital’s rooms, Mirodec resorted to the UV digital printing technology, which allowed them to deliver the project at a record time while keeping it within budget. There is a lot one can do in interiors using glass and mirrors and the knowledge needs to be spread. Designers who understand its potential ultimately utilise their talent to develop it in the most beautiful ways. Khoury acknowledges the manufacturer’s responsibility of working closely with interior design firms and constantly demonstrating to them the multiple products achievable thanks to the technological advancement in the sector. “As long as we can mutually create a product that is hygienic and fits the design intent, the trend of decorative glass use in healthcare will stay on the rise in the years to come,” adds Khoury.
Stellarnova console is created by Brodie Neill, founder and creative director of Made in Ratio. Neill has paired bronze with bamboo to create this masterpiece. Exclusively available at Mint in London, the wall-mounted console features a solid recycled bronze leg and a two-tiered sustainable bamboo top, ebonised using an organic stain and carved in the form of a crescent. Bamboo remains one of the most sustainable and fast-growing natural materials, which are also extremely, stable when cross-laminated into boards. Supporting the canti-levered console and creating a perfect sense of balance is the single Stellarnova leg at the apex of the tabletop. With its biomorphic form inspired by nature, the Stellarnova leg is designed with a triangulated attachment point, reducing the overall material usage and resulting in a more refined aesthetic.
For more information, visit: www.madeinratio.com
It’s amazing how the world is adapting to the new culture of working, interacting, learning, and doing business amid COVID-19. Let’s find out how the leading experts from the design industry in the region are coping, holding up, and continuing strongly
Pallavi Dean Founder and Creative Director, Roar
The good thing about a consultancy organisation such as ours is that it lends itself well to remote working. Typically as consultants, we tend to spend so much time travelling to and attending meetings, some of which are unnecessary. In many ways, the new reality of remote working is far more efficient and productive. The safety of our staff is our number one priority. We implemented remote working across the business and asked everyone to work from home from the early stages of the pandemic, and are now conducting all internal and external meetings virtually. Here at Roar, we are huge fans of Zoom and Microsoft Teams – these video call systems have completely changed the way we work and I don’t know how we were doing without them before! So far, on the whole, we’ve been fortunate as the vast majority of our projects are going ahead. It hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing: we’ve had a restaurant project cancelled and an office design put on hold. But happily, we’re seeing a good number of new enquiries and RFPs. Partly from the government as part of the UAE economic stimulus plan, but also from the private sector – we’ve just submitted a bid to design a big regional HQ in Dubai for a multinational company. So hopefully the business impact will be manageable. I believe there will be two main take-aways from this – the first one is that antimicrobial finishes will be increasingly specified in office projects despite their higher cost and the second one is that we will probably move away from the sharing/hot desking concepts and return to a more traditional, cordoned off approach reminiscent of the cubicle style workstation.
Ben Corrigan, Founder and CEO, Bluehaus Group
The health and safety of our people and teams is always of primary importance. We established operating safety protocols in early February and moved our people and teams to work from home before a firm directive was received from the government, albeit we were aware a directive was imminent. We have both office-based and site-based team members, so for the office-based team we are all working from home and communicating consistently, and for our post-contract team members who are visiting the site more regularly we are in regular contact to ensure they both comply with government directives to keep them safe, and also implement increased levels of safety over and above government directives to keep them safe. In terms of supporting our clients and partners, working remotely has presented some challenges but also learning and opportunities. We have found clients and partners are very receptive to using video conferencing and screen-sharing much more than before to present design progress, or for bidding or project meetings, and actually, the success of this and productivity has surprised us all. Microsoft Teams’ effectiveness has really surprised us and we are excited about ensuring we continue to use this, and other great tools, more consistently once we return to the workplace. We do ‘not’ believe the office is dead as is being discussed currently, far from it in fact as humans are social beings and human connection and interaction will always be essential to a business or a company’s culture.
What I believe, we will return to a more balanced approach (e.g for every 3-4 meetings you have with a client, collaborator, etc 2-3 will be virtual and this will be widely accepted), where virtual and remote working will be more widely accepted. We have been relatively fortunate that many of our projects, at least at the time of writing this, are progressing. That said we have had two hospitality projects placed on hold but hopefully, they will come back online as now is a great time to refurbish. Cash-flow is always critical in times of crisis so it is a challenge with collections but we are leaning to our experience of previous crisis and the disciplines required to manage collections and cash flow and will continue to drive this day-to-day, we also have a responsibility to our sub-consultants and partners to ensure they are also getting paid as many are privately owned SME’s much like Bluehaus Group.
I am a big believer that the greatest learning presents itself in times of challenge if you look for it. We have a ‘lessons learnt’ document which is being well populated and will be reviewed down the road and have already announced to the business that when we return to the Workplace we will be implementing a ‘4+1 Workweek’ meaning Thursday will be a ‘flexiday’ to choose to work from the Workplace, from home or a café. We are very excited to see how this goes but confident this will improve our team-culture, our productivity and the happiness of our people and teams.
Kristina Zanic, Owner, Kristina Zanic Consultants
At Kristina Zanic Consultants, we adapted to remote working very quickly and we continue to deliver our projects in a timely manner. In the design industry in general, a few changes have happened as well, for instance, there are several virtual conferences taking place, and even design festivals are going virtual, which proves that creativity cannot be knocked down. Safety and well-being of our employees is of utmost priority, which is why we were ready for remote working well ahead of the government announces to the lockdown. We have implemented all latest available apps for video conferences and calls, such as Teams and Zoom, which we use the most, as well as Go To Meeting which has been popular for quite some time now. We have also provided our staff with the necessary remote access to our server, and I am pleased to say that the strategy was successful: all of our usual processes are running smoothly and without any technical issues, which is yet another confirmation of the quality procedures we have in place. Technology is helping us all currently and we continue our day-to-day work effortlessly. Our projects are still running, and our design team is busy with deliverables; we all make sure that the project milestones are met and that we produce our design packages on time.
No one holds a crystal ball with answers on how the future will be shaped due to the Covid-19 situation, however, I am positive that we can all learn from the circumstances and start implementing what we’ve learned so far, not only the social distancing behaviour but also changes in the office-working style for instance. There are several learnings from all this! For one, Kristina Zanic Owner, Kristina Zanic Consultants the creative process has not changed at all, we still use the sketch paper, we still discuss several ideas together on our Teams calls and collaborate longer together. Another aspect is also sustainability – less printing and less papyrology in some cases, as documents can be provided electronically in soft copy. Another good thing is also training for our team: we are introducing new training programs for our design personnel so that we will be ready for the re-start stronger and even more qualified. In addition between the two offices, we are all able to get together via teams and the connections are amazing so we may consider doing this more often.
Christian Merieau Managing Director, MMAC Design Associates
The current situation has, however, allowed us to realise that our usual lively and noisy work environment was not always conducive to the deep thinking a designer needs to create something truly unique. The quality of some of our work might have been enhanced by the confinement. Working from home for personal reason, was already something that we had allowed our team to do on a regular basis. It was therefore not too difficult to go a step further. Many of our team members have taken their office computers home and they have well-secured access to all our project data. To communicate with did set up WhatsApp group chats for each project teams. We also have a regular online project and staff meeting via GoToMeeting. Co-ordination meeting with our clients and other consultants does sometimes take place via GoogleMeet, MicrosoftTeam of Skype. We try to avoid using ZOOM because of the data security issues. Surprisingly, the work has not slowed down. The projects that are in the design phase are moving ahead as planned. This could be linked to the fact that they are located in various region of the world.
The projects that we currently working on are in Uganda, Senegal, Seychelles, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, and many in Saudi Arabia. We have not yet had to suffer from a negative financial impact. It is, however, to be noted that we have been asked for some additional financial efforts on some of our project that is under construction. The local hotel projects under construction are not only going ahead as planned and will be moved ahead with an increased sense of emergency. At this stage of the crisis, our real concern is how the hotel investment will be in 2021, as it could strongly affect our business development target Remote working is likely to become a big part of how interior design firms will be running its resources. The tools that we had to put into place will be beneficial for the future. What we can learn from all this is…I hope we will remember how fragile we are. I hope that we will have learned that we can live with less. I hope that we will remember to care more for each other. I hope that we will come out of this humbler, more aware, more decent, more respectful . . . . . . . . maybe just more human.
Melani Sabhaney Co-Founder and Design Director, Interspace
Design projects in many sectors are complete standstill, due to various issues. Inaccessibility of work sites for one. Although construction is an allowed segment by the authorities, many clients have decided to re-think the need to proceed. The hospitality and travel sectors being acutely hit has crippled us in many ways. Our projects are on hold, temporarily as of now, but looking at how long this is going to take will decide whether the client will go in for new premises and continue expansion plans under the then prevailing economic conditions. It has been difficult with private clients in the residential sector as well, since working from home has certain limitations when it comes to deciding on finishes and materials, without being able to review and approve physical samples, decisions get delayed. As a design firm, our work has primarily been based on personal client interactions. We did try to hold occasional one–on-one meetings at office maintaining safety protocols, but for the past two weeks, that has also been completely stopped. The safety of our staff is paramount. Our entire team works from home. We have formulated work logs and frequent interactive meetings to keep them motivated and productive through this time. We use the online cloud platform EGNYTE to store our files and resources. Microsoft Teams is our work meeting platform and has been very effective. Zoom is also being used with some clients who find that easier to access. We are apprehensive to how this will impact the future of the company, we hope the larger projects will not be stalled for longer and thereby reducing the present percentage deficit in finances. We hope the smaller private projects will resume post-crisis and help us tide over. Although this has impacted staff salaries and incentives. Remote working has been a way already with larger firms being involved in outsourcing work, but for a smaller boutique firm such as ours, this is a new experience.
One that we are learning from. Personally, I find it more tedious, since we are used to the conventional sit over a table and brainstorm practice, while doing it over a zoom call does somehow feel detached. That being said we have realised that we can do effective work from home, it just requires a different mindset, adaptation being the keyword. Maybe this will lead to a new culture, we learn from our experiences. The new work concept where with only front runners, who need to interact with clients, being out in the field and the major back-end workforce working remotely. Makes us question the need for large offices. Might be a win-win situation for all concerned. Cutting costs on travel and office spaces and supplies. Time saved on travel and not to mention fewer people outside is less pollution as we have come to see. As one of the many COVID related messages we keep reading, this one did strike a chord. “We fell asleep in one world and woke up in another” but how well we learn from this and progress forward will be interesting to watch.