FUTURE BAR DESIGN The Meeting House in Princeton, N.J., features a “rustic chic” interior design by Isabella Sparrow.
The Pandemic Pushes
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s the pandemic continues, public perceptions of indoor spaces have changed irrevocably. “It’s definitely going to shape and change the way we think about bar design,” says David Rader, AIA, senior project manager at Dyer Brown, an architectural firm based in Boston. As bars and restaurants prepare for an eventual return to capacity, architects who design hospitality venues predict that some changes will be here to stay. Joshua Zinder, AIA, managing partner of Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design (JZA+D), based in Princeton, New Jersey, 20
Bar Business Magazine
believes designs that encourage social distancing and smaller groupings will be popular going forward. Looking to the past for inspiration, Zinder says, “In a 1950s diner, they used to have a bar that would go out into the room and come back in some spots.” A bar with a curved edge can control how people move through the space, preventing dense crowds from gathering. Small tables or booths nestled between curved bar sections can provide seating for small groups, while openings in the bar give the bartender access to different areas. For venues that already have a built-in traditional straight bar, Rader suggests
adding high-top tables to the bar at perpendicular angles, forming a T-shape. “That ends up helping with distancing from the staff working behind the bar,” he says. Between the tables, you can have small groups of seating. “Instead of having a bar that has a stretch of 25 seats in a linear row, maybe it’s four seats, one of these pop-out or ‘finger’ tables, and then another four seats or six seats,” says Rader, noting that this flexible change in layout helps with social distancing as the pandemic continues, and it can be adjusted later depending on changing circumstances. For creating additional separations,
Spring 2021 barbizmag.com
Photo: JZA+D.
design changes
