Escape from Reality…

According to reports, Covid 19 will lead to a rise in escapist restaurant interiors. While physical menus, cash payments and buffets will largely be abandoned, using original and escapist designs to create slightly surreal, and special experiences in restaurants could be a lasting design legacy of the pandemic.

From Asian inspired ceilings, soft lighting, wall art and fairy-tale forest scenes, restaurants will want design to transport their customers to another world as an escape from reality. With customer numbers likely to be low for some time, restaurant owners will be looking for originality in their interiors to mitigate the vast spacing around seating areas.

Simple, cost-effective design inclusions can add a touch of escapism into any restaurant setting. For example, when refurbishing The Dragoon, a Charles Well pub in Cambridgeshire, we identified a blank wall space in the bar area. Adding in a stencilled mural to this wall ensured that the customer’s eye was detracted from the open space around them and closed the area in slightly to create a cosier environment.