How Covid-19 Changed Restaurant Design - Retail Architect Explains | WIRED

The challenges brought by the pandemic have been changing the face of the hospitality industry in noticeable ways, and in cities like New York, fixtures born of necessity like sidewalk dining might be here to stay.

Due to the coronavirus, restaurants and bars all of a sudden went from needing to appear full to be appealing to customers, to needing to look safe and mindful of the health of their patrons and staff. 

Our friends over at WIRED asked retail architect Sterling Plenert about the challenges of designing restaurants with COVID restrictions, and the work that goes into creating the sidewalk cafes that have been popping up all over town since last Spring.

The goal of these structures is threefold:

• Allowing restaurants to have enough tables to stay in business.
• Making a pleasant experience of outdoor dining that’s comparable to indoor dining in pre-COVID times.
• Creating the conditions for year-round dining that’s as comfortable mid-summer as mid-winter, while still complying with COVID safety regulations.

Towards the end of the video, Plenert also looks ahead to the future of the NYC dining scene and envisions a version of New York with permanent outdoor terraces.

Perhaps in the end something good will come out of all this: we love the idea of a future where, like in Europe, American city streets can be enjoyed by people rather than cars.

Tune in to find out more.