The cultural effects of the last few years have been significant and have led to fresh perspectives on personal well-being and economic and environmental issues. By viewing design through a filter of cultural, social and economic shifts, we can identify trends that are temporary or evergreen, widespread or localized, and help navigate our clients to a solution that aligns with their business objectives. The main trends for 2025 we are seeing in hospitality, multifamily and commercial real estate are an emphasis on psychographics, office-to-anything conversions, creative placemaking, and shifts in co-working and wellness. Consumers are becoming bolder in expressing themselves regardless of what’s on trend, so we are focusing less on the aesthetics themselves and more on the “why” informing them.
Psychographics: Psychographics are a key factor in empathic design, which emphasizes the human aspect of data and delves deeper into consumer temperaments. Partnered with demographics and geographics, we can create a design that is more engaging with long-term effect. Champions for empathic design have been around for a long time, but now we’re seeing more designers, developers and property managers understand the significance to further connect with their targeted demographic.
Office-to-Anything Conversions: It’s nearly impossible to stay up to date with real estate trends and not hear about office conversions. The most common conversion types happening right now are from office to multifamily, hotel or industrial, with more than half being multifamily. When they pencil, these projects help provide a much-needed offering in the market while reusing buildings that are obsolete. Office conversions don’t work everywhere or in every condition; the building type, existing loans, government programs and market conditions are all necessary to make them viable. In addition to that, an experienced team that is well versed in conversions is necessary to make sure the project is a success. From an interior perspective, we emphasize flexibility and placemaking, making sure the building can compete with non-conversion properties.
Creative Placemaking: Creative placemaking is a specific type of placemaking that focuses on arts and culture to improve the physical and social character of a place. While placemaking is an integral practice in urban planning, individual properties can see the benefits of implementing creative placemaking in design. In a study done by Americans for the Arts, 70% of Americans believe the arts improve the identity of their community and their quality of life. Incorporating thoughtful character is one of the simplest ways for a property to gain consumer loyalty.
Co-working & Wellness: The new mindset behind co-working and wellness has them overlapping more than ever before. Wellness is no longer just about fitness, but an approach to whole-body wellness. It affects the way we integrate work and play into our social spaces. More than 80% of U.S. consumers consider wellness an important priority, with an emphasis on fun as well as work and life balance. Integrating wellness and co-working into our shared spaces will begin to feel more fluid than segmented going forward.
Photo courtesy of Private Label International
Christina Johnson is creative director of Phoenix- and San Francisco-based Private Label International, a full-service interior design studio that develops hospitality environments and lifestyle brand experiences for clients worldwide.
