Designing the post-pandemic home: five things you need to know

Creating a safe haven

Wellness had already become the buzzword in luxury property design before Covid entered our lives – especially in new developments. It meant having a beautiful swimming pool, a sauna and maybe some spa treatment rooms for residents’ use only: pampering luxuries that make us feel healthier and happier. Now, after nearly two years in which talk of pandemic has dominated our lives, wellness in our homes has become about so much more, from the very fabric of the building to the air that flows within it.

It is now about creating a safe haven in all senses – one in which we feel protected from the world around us, not just by having state-of-the-art security measures, but by effectively having a self-purifying home that filters out the toxins and noise and rids our living spaces from harmful electromagnetic fields.

In one of Rive Gauche London’s projects in Hyde Park Gate in Kensington, we went one step further than merely filtering the air that entered the house. We provided 10 times the volume of fresh air than is set by the British standard – the intention being to constantly filter and clear the internal air to improve the residents’ quality of life in the property. Smells are similarly something that need to be filtered out in the best-designed homes, by playing with levels of air pressure in the room to control how odours travel across a property.

Going green

Greenery is essential to our sense of wellbeing at home too, whether it’s transforming a simple roof terrace into an urban oasis or creating an internal courtyard that brings light and nature into the core of the house. Being connected to nature plays a pivotal part in how we feel, and we design spaces that enhance this sense of serenity and harmony.

Biophilic design, as it’s known, is about far more than incorporating water features and greenery in a project. It’s also about the flow of the space, which needs to feel intuitive, and it’s about maximising the volume of the property’s interiors to create a feeling of luxurious space but also of cocoon-like warmth.

Textures, finishes and natural materials all play a vital role in nurturing a sense of connection with nature. We use a natural plaster finish, for example, which we apply by hand to create a bespoke texture that is instantly soothing.

In one current project, a luxury residential development, we are bringing greenery and landscaping indoors to the reception – connecting inside and out and enhancing the feeling of connectivity with nature. Often subconsciously, using greenery in this way makes us feel more serene and in harmony with our surroundings.

Sharing flexible spaces

Most of us have lost our love of full-time working from home, and very few parents have happy memories of home schooling. We’ve all seen just how much our homes have had to multi-skill in recent months – and the old configuration of our spaces had often started to feel inadequate during many months spent at home. Now what people want from their homes is flexibility: the ability to be together when we want, and apart when we choose. We want to share an open space, but to have niches for separate activities. While one parent cooks, the other may be working and the children playing, all within the same room. Before the pandemic, each space in our homes had a specific function. Now we design spaces for our clients that will fit a new way of living, which is about finding the balance between open areas and quiet space.

Open-plan is still desirable, but broken-plan – where the space is divided with beautiful screens or bespoke freestanding shelving placed centrally in a room to both display select objects and let light flow through – can be even more effective.

The pandemic has made us all realise our space needs to adapt to how we live now, and in the future. Families have experienced togetherness in a way they probably never have before – and that’s something many of us want to keep hold on, to cherish times together.

On one prime London square, Rive Gauche London are designing a 10,000 sq ft house where the flow of space is all about flexibility. We are creating a family room with a specially-designed, oversized sofa and series of screens that can create separate zones without isolating people.

Forget trends; do what works for you

When it comes to design, we have never followed trends. The faddish nature of ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ fashions may be fine if you are renovating a property to sell. But when you are investing time, energy and money into creating the perfect home to suit you and your family, you need to think, as far as possible, what will still work for you in five or 10 years’ time.

To me, the key is to create interiors that are balanced and elegant – and we are able to do that by really getting under the skin of how our clients’ live, what they love about their homes, and what really doesn’t work for them. We look at the quirks and habits of their lifestyles – it may be a couple with wildly differing tastes or routines – to come up with design solutions that will answer their specific needs. And we question every detail and proportion of their homes. Often minimalism is the answer. To me, the balance is as much about knowing when to stop as what to add, and minimalist design has an inherent coherence, simplicity and calmness to it. The finished result may involve many layers – but they are discreet and subtle, to create a feeling of comfort and elegance.

The perfect balance between high-tech and easy to use

Smart technology is a pre-requisite in many super-prime new-builds now – invisible tech that enables the entire house to be controlled by an phone or iPad. Where, as you enter, the blinds, mood lighting, heating and music all snap into action at the swish of a screen. It’s the ultimate in convenience. And touchless tech has gained a whole new purpose since Covid, giving residents in luxury apartment blocks, for example, the reassurance that they can safely use communal lifts and doors without needing to touch any buttons.

But most of our clients only want the latest technology if it makes their life easier. And for us as designers, that is the challenge. One client has removed all his brand new, high-tech installations because they were too complex. But high tech can serve a purpose too – such as energy-efficient blinds that can be controlled based on the level of heat gain from the sun on to the window glass. The optimum tech is intelligent with an interface that’s as simple to use as possible.

Not every element of a house needs to be high tech either. Yes, you may want to press a button to close your curtains and dim your lights – but does every light need to be colour-changing? Besides, there is no greater thing for the soul than natural light – and the most intelligent lights are those that replicate the effect and benefits of nature, with spotlights whose glow becomes warmer as they dim, to mimic sunset.