After the lull comes the storm. While architects and interior designers found themselves twiddling their thumbs due to the unavailability of staff and material during the lockdown, a drop in infections spurred a wave of hope and spending. Sonali Ashar, founder of Hacienda Interior Architects, says home owners who had been waiting to do up their homes, went all out. However, she noticed a change. The requests for structural and aesthetic changes weren’t run of the mill. Conscious consumers are keen to use materials that help with safety and hygiene and fuse architecture with technology for a touchless experience. “We have begun to notice the impact of different accents in the spaces around us. 

Suddenly, thresholds have come into focus. I was servicing a client at Carmichael Road, who decided that she did not want footwear inside the house anymore. So, we created a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to wall-closet with panelling right outside the main door where all the footwear could be neatly stashed. She had not bothered about this detail when I had done up her home many years ago,” Ashar adds.