DLSM Insights: Creating Healthy Environments

Following on from last week’s insights we continue to share our thoughts with you –  looking at how, going forward, we can design healthy environments for your guests, focusing on their well-being with the use of selective and restorative materials.

The importance of creating a hospitality design environment that evokes and benefits one’s health and wellbeing is set to become a dominant and leading trend. Consumers’ priorities have shifted post the Covid-19 outbreak. Post isolation guests will want to socially re-engage and share experiences with their friends and families but with a renewed consideration on the spaces in which they inhabit outside of their home.

We have rounded up some of our key takeaways on how to design healthy environments – encouraging guests to feel comfortable, secure and relaxed.

Utilising materials such as copper, bamboo and glass, which all have powerful antibacterial qualities. Also types of wood such as pine and oak,  contain natural antibacterial characteristics therefore effective in stopping bacteria from breeding and killing off germs.

These key materials can subtly convey a visual sense of health and hygiene within a space.

• For example, Bespoke furniture suppliers Boca Do Lobo’s have created the ‘Wave Table’ to evoke a sense of calm and tranquillity with its cleansing hand hammered copper casing.

For other surfaces consider applying antimicrobial products such as SilverShied technology, which can be integrated into textiles, ceramics and metals.

A sensorial approach to enhance wellbeing within a space. Inciting emotion into the colour palette with tones that feel fresh, restorative, energising and joyful. Consider using natural, warm plant-based colours that evoke comfort for guests, reconnecting them to nature and the outdoor environment.

• Localisation of colour will become a key focus to come out of Covid-19. With brands tapping into consumer desire for authenticity and localism, taking inspiration from the surrounding palette as well as exploring partnerships with local farms and businesses to use food waste for new plant-based dyes.

Incorporating hygiene within design, utilising sterilising UV lamps that have an unconscious and functional design that can seamlessly blend into a space. Specialised UV light can also be used to disinfect surfaces discreetly and decontaminate food containers and packaging for take-away businesses.

Sanitising technology will be essential in the recovery of Covid-19 but will need to be mindfully designed.

• Designer Frank Chou recently developed a sterilising lamp with a tray where personal items such as phones, keys and wallets can be placed. An internal UV light source will then be activated by the user to sterilise the products in 60 seconds.

Protective textiles have become a key priority for consumers that want to defend themselves from disease and pollution. Material innovations such as anti-viral and antimicrobial solutions are continually being developed to create future-proof products and designs.

Consider using tactile fabrics that inhibit the growth of commonly found bacteria and viruses.

• Israeli start-up company Sonovia have developed a technology that consists of an ultrasound-based, antimicrobial coating that can be applied to fabric and textiles.