Adam Hyman: ‘Are we overlooking design?’

After an early morning jaunt to Columbia Road flower market yesterday I tuned into Monocle 24.

Monocle’s editorial director Tyler Brûlé was in conversation with the interior designer Tara Bernerd, live from Gstaad. They were discussing hospitality and, in particular, the shortage of staff across hotels and restaurants globally. The direction of conversation turned towards design and whether it can help with the issue currently plaguing our industry. While we’re all being steered towards tech in assisting the workforce dilemma, are we overlooking design?

Throughout the pandemic we were told that hospitality and retail would forever more be a one-way system partitioned by Perspex. Thankfully that hasn’t remained. Remember trying to talk to someone on the other side of a plastic screen? We’re all aware how an environment can affect our mood and experience. A well-lit train carriage, a cosy hotel lobby, an air-conditioned airport lounge can take the edge off a signal failure, delayed check-in or a late departure.

I’ve stopped going to a café near my office because of how it looks and feels. After ordering your takeaway coffee, there is nowhere to wait, resulting in a confused gaggle of people hovering for their morning hit of caffeine. ‘Are you in the queue?’ is a question asked by just about everyone.

If a continued shortage of baristas, check-in staff or servers means we’re going to have to wait that bit longer for service these days, then let’s work on making the space around us more hospitable. An opportunity to make waiting an experience in its own right, perhaps? 

Read more industry news here