Door shuts for open-plan living as office comes home

COVID-19 may be the death of openplan living, say architects, as people try to juggle work and home schooling.

Families who have spent months locked up with their nearest are beginning to realise the value of privacy.

While open-plan living has been popular since the Eighties, post-pandemic homeowners are likely to be looking back towards a more Victorian style of living, experts have said.

Purchasers are also more likely to demand a porch, where they can leave their outdoor clothing, or a downstairs lavatory where they can wash their hands when they get into the house.

As businesses look to reduce their office space, spare bedrooms are more likely to be deployed as home offices.

Chris Bryant, of Alma-nac, an architecture practice in London, said the experiences of lockdown would remain in people’s minds for years to come.

“There will always be a question now in all building briefs of what happens if there is a pandemic,” he said. “As offices shrink and more people work from home, they will need a proper work station and they will need to be able to close a door behind them.”

Mr Bryant, a visiting lecturer in architecture at Westminster University, said the other change brought about by the pandemic was “people’s attitudes toward cleanliness”.

“People will be thinking about washing their hands as they come in, which could lead back to cellular space, perhaps a porch or a lavatory near the front door,” he said.

Even when this outbreak is under control there will be a “psychological change” and public bodies in particular will be expected to plan for another pandemic. But for many, especially in urban areas, open-plan living was not just a trend, but a necessity.

“Most new builds, particularly in London, are open-plan and it will be interesting to see how small those spaces are when you divide them up,” Mr Bryant said.

One solution is for existing homes to be divided using sliding partitions or curtains but, as work from home becomes part of the “new normal”, developers may consider including shared office space within buildings.