The New Age of the Zoomies... (not animal related)

You know what they are. You've been doing them for the past year. It's more than likely your children are doing them, too. It's the ZOOM. It's become the necessary norm during these unprecedented times (we need a new word for "unprecedented" don't ya think?).

The use of electronic devices in our daily lives has been a constant for that last few decades but even more so during the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We've been stuck in our homes which has forced us to adapt to our new normal and fast.

School is now home with teachers and students using electronic devices as classrooms while businesses are using electronics as offices. So it's only natural to assume our surroundings need to adapt to these changes as well.

Introducing... the ZOOM space.

Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with the zooming of everything. I like my home but I like people too. Part of my job is to meet people and more importantly go into their homes. But then the massive curveball of 2020 happened and well, we all know how the story goes... it went sideways.

Case in point, my latest project designing such a space carved from a little area in a basement.

You might be asking what is the most important elements to focus on when designing such spaces?

Two words....LIGHTING & SOUND.

But we'll get to that in just a bit. But first, feast your eyes on this little spot that will soon become a beautiful and functioning area for my client to conduct her business from the comfort of her own home. It doesn't look like too much now but it's quickly transforming into a space all her own.

I started off taking some quick measurements making sure the space could handle COVID requirements such as the ability to practice proper social distancing. Using chalk I was able to draw out a furniture layout and to much to my surprise the space is perfectly capable to conduct any interviews with guidelines in tact. Whew....