Designing for a new world

Writing from my home in London, which I have called my office for the past 8 weeks, I wanted to connect with you, our customers, partners and colleagues to offer our support and update you on Craster’s position.

Our core priority has been to ensure the safety and wellness of our loved ones, the Craster team and our community. We are remote working through the fantastic efforts of our agile team, who continue to provide an exceptional level of service despite the numerous challenges that face our global clients. I am in huge appreciation at how our team have pulled together to keep our promises of excellence in this time.  

It is clear that we are observing seismic changes unfolding across our world, and in particular within our industry. These shifts pose important challenges for us to navigate and respond to:

• In many ways, this crisis has been an existential one for hospitality and its values. The social dislocation that we have experienced, which promises to influence our near-future ways of working, acts in juxtaposition to the very human values that we espouse in the world of hospitality: communing, of celebrating, of spontaneity, discovery and of personal service to others. 

• By necessity, the physical planning of our client experience will change. If we have historically evaluated the depth of guest experience through the quality of touchpoints, how does this square with the new reality of a contactless world?

• We are grappling with the uncertainty of properties reopening whilst the timing and efficacy of a resolution to COVID 19 is unknown. 

• On a broader scale, we are seeing the convergence of global tectonic forces influencing our decisions around international travel. These forces include concerns around the impact on our environment, the maturing of technology that enables remote connectivity and universal health and wellbeing.    

Innovation through collaboration

As designers, we are optimists by nature and we always look for opportunities to innovate. Over the past weeks, Amy and I have spoken with many of our clients to understand how they are interpreting the changing landscape and our new reality. As lockdowns ease, new guidelines and protocols are fast emerging. We believe that now is the time to be looking for opportunities to bring positive experiences from these constraints. We are already working with our clients to develop innovative solutions to support their priorities: those of balancing safety with the imperative of a unique customer experience. 

The hospitality ecosystem has always depended upon its collaborations and partnerships to thrive. As creators and innovators at heart, we believe that our greatest contribution is through innovative ideas executed beautifully. We want to help our partners thrive again. So we would love to hear from you.  We are ready to work with you to overcome your challenges, and to support you in this new world. 

Please do get in touch and keep in touch

Alex

Furnishings provided by @haydesign @silveraofficial @Modern_Art_Hire and @hasa.architects