80 INTERIORS
WHERE HOME OFFICES AND STUDIES WERE ONCE SEEN AS A LUXURY, THEY MAY NOW BE AN ESSENTIAL CONSIDERATION
carpet is popular for bedrooms, tiles or LVT for kitchens and bathrooms, and wood or wood effect surfaces for dining or study areas. So, where you have an open plan, multi-use space such as a kitchen/dining area, different floor finishes in the kitchen and dining section help to clearly indicate the two separate zones in one space.
The way show homes themselves are delivered is also changing. Many housebuilders already offer a virtual tour experience, and manufacturers are increasingly being asked to work with developers to create virtual show homes. Builders find it a particularly useful tool for developments not large enough to warrant a show home – or for house buyers looking to relocate from some
distance away and unable to visit the site. It is also a way of offering other potential buyers a flavour of what to expect in terms of space and the quality of fixtures and fittings. Virtual tours really came into their own
during the height of the pandemic, when restrictions often made it difficult to make site visits. Having established this as a further option available to house buyers, then going forward it is inevitable that a virtual tour walk-through will become a buyer expectation. While this is an incredibly useful
feature, nothing can compare to being able to view a property in person, given the level of investment it represents for most people, but it is arguable that – in the same way that Teams and Zoom meetings have prospered during the pandemic and will continue to have their place – virtual tours will become a valid further option in the future, saving valuable and sometimes unnecessary travelling time.
Another legacy of the pandemic is also likely to be greater awareness of environmental issues. People have had time to think during the various lockdowns, and to reassess their priorities. This, in turn, has accelerated the new mood of responsible consumerism and a
greater level of eco-awareness. So, it is beholden on us all to respond
to this shift in attitudes in the products we both use and specify. Don’t assume, for instance, that price is always the upper- most consideration, when it is becoming clearer by the day that provenance is an increasing concern – and that people will increasingly ‘need to know’ about products and their pedigree. There are, for example, innovative new flooring products with exemplar environ- mental credentials which sometimes meet resistance from specifiers who believe the end-cost-to-consumer remains the ultimate priority. That is no longer always the case, and builders and developers who acknowledge this shift in attitude will enhance their standing with house buyers, simply by making it an available option. So, with increasing concerns about the environment, along with post pandemic priorities and the new mood for more thoughtful consumerism, Covid may have pressed the fast forward button and increased the pace and scale of change. Either way, it is in all our interests to move as rapidly as the virus, to effect that change.
Louise Walters is commercial director for Designer Contracts
WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK
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