Design for Outdoor Social Distancing

While the nation begins to emerge post-COVID, the pandemic’s impact on the hospitality community is evident by its embrace of outdoor social distancing. The commercial design industry is focusing on providing safe customer environments in which outdoor social distancing plays a crucial role.

These outdoor spaces will need to comfort customers. Safety is not only achievable, but it can be stylish and welcoming as well. And while outdoor dining may provide a lifeline to those in the hospitality industry, allaying the fear of open-air transmission is a challenge. Beaufurn is ready to help you meet it.

3 Ways to Create Outdoor Social Distancing Space

Physical Barriers and Guides

All industries are trying to balance their concerns about the spread of coronavirus with humanity’s instinctive need for social interaction, as well as the economic need for financial restoration. Architects are designing open spaces that provide distance between their patrons. However, in spaces where it is difficult for individuals to spread out, physical barriers can mitigate the risks of pathogen spread. 

Seating partitions such as Beafurn’s attractive barriers add to customer safety while dining outside. Installing physical barriers in areas where achieving optimal social distancing or consistent 6-foot separation is difficult can put urban restaurants and higher-density establishments in a better place for financial recovery. Seating partitions can help the hospitality industry as well as commercial and healthcare industries, with the overt messaging that customer safety is essential.

Consider using outdoor patio umbrellas when designing outdoor spaces. Large patio umbrellas or cantilever umbrellas not only offer comfortable shading, but they create natural safe spaces between patrons. Beaufurn has a large selection of beautifully designed patio umbrellas. Our cantilever umbrellas and single-pole umbrellas can be configured in various ways and customized to fit your space perfectly. Our new umbrella partition for the P6 Square and Square XL outdoor umbrellas allow you to seat more guests safely outdoors. The umbrella partition keeps the customer’s health in mind while also optimizing seating capacity for outside dining.

Our outdoor umbrellas are modern, sleek, and very easy to operate. Both single-pole and cantilever styles are available in an array of standard colors and made with high-performance fabrics to resist fading and mildew. 

Contact us for ideas on how to distance patrons while maximizing your space!

Modified Layouts and Procedures

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends limiting face-to-face contact to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Restaurants and bar layouts are to ensure that all customer parties remain at least 6 feet apart.

Beaufurn’s P6 Quatro XL umbrella combines four cantilever umbrellas on a single pole, which provides not only attractive shading and comfort but also coverage of up to 400 square feet to naturally set up 6-foot distancing in an attractive and inviting manner. Arrange four P6 Quatro XL patio umbrellas for a 10-foot by 10-foot outdoor space for patron seating.

Easily adapted special configurations also can provide a solution to safer customer environments outdoors. Architects, designers, and property managers will need to focus on outdoor designs that can accommodate minimized connectedness but also on the efficient use of space during normal conditions. This is where flexibility in your furniture products is crucial.

Easy-to-store outdoor furnishings and outdoor umbrellas, as well as outdoor furniture that’s easily moved and rearranged, is an ideal solution to ensuring outdoor layouts can be modified for customer safety. Our uptown chairs are easily stacked, stored, and then easily set up once needed.

Clean and Disinfect Shared Objects

All outdoor furniture should be easily sanitized and able to withstand multiple washings. Our outdoor furnishings are made with materials that offer moisture and permeation barrier properties ideal for outdoor designs that help keep consumers safe yet are stylish and comfortable.

Design strategies for outside dining post-COVID-19 include utilizing as much space as possible. Thankfully, many local authorities are allowing restaurants and bars to use sidewalks and marked-off parking areas to expand their outdoor real estate. Optimizing seating capacity while following clinical protocols, such as mitigating contagion via surfaces, will ensure a more successful outdoor social distancing design space. Our Urban Tops with aluminum bases are easily sanitized.

Our popular Urban tabletops provide the elegant look of marble without its sensitivity to bleach cleanings. Urban Tops are perfect for restaurants, patios, bars, and food courts. Made of thermoset resins, Urban tabletops are bonded to create a high-density product suitable for covered outdoor use. These outdoor table tops are available in a variety of colors and styles, including a faux marble or wood veneer appearance.

We welcome architects, designers, and project managers to contact us for ideas regarding safe customer environments that maximize outdoor spaces.

Polypropylene chairs are an ideal choice for outdoor social distancing design. They can be cleaned with a bleachable solution, and you’ll find a wide variety of these at Beaufurn, including the Ariel, Angel, Brenda, Cary, and Uptown chairs. We spotlight several  “easy-to-clean” products ideal for infection control in outside gathering places, but we encourage you to explore all of our outdoor furniture options as well as our beautiful selection of umbrellas perfect for outdoor settings.