Why ‘dwell time’ has become the new currency in commercial interiors

For years, dwell time has been a familiar metric in retail, the simple equation connecting ‘time spent’ with  ‘likelihood to buy’. Recently, though, dwell time has evolved into something far more powerful – a measure of emotional connection, comfort, and belonging.

Over the past decade, environments have been optimised for speed. Seamless digital journeys. One-click transactions. Agile workplaces. Yet human behaviour has shifted and both consumers and colleagues are now seeking spaces that slow them down while offering respite, tactility, and room for genuine connections.

As Deloitte’s 2025 consumer trends research notes, people are actively gravitating towards sensory, analogue experiences that counterbalance digital overload. For example, retail is moving from transactional layouts to experiential flagships that encourage exploration and social connection, we’re seeing workplaces rethinking purpose – with dwell time becoming a proxy for engagement, belonging, and wellbeing. And, hospitality, ever the benchmark for emotional connection, continues to shape expectations around comfort, care, and service design.

Yet, dwell is not created by design alone, rather the product of design and execution – the joinery quality, lighting responsiveness, acoustic softness, and comfort underfoot – and underpinning it all, the trust between architects, clients, and contractors is the hidden ingredient that ensures vision becomes lived experience.

Square metres, cost plans, and timelines remain essential, but the spaces that succeed will be those that respect people’s time – and are rewarded with more of it. Find out more in our most recent guide, ‘designing for Dwell(being): Why time, trust and tangibility define the next era of interiors’. Click here to download.