Designing for Dwell(being): Why time, trust and tangibility define the next era of interiors 

A new guide from Agilité and IA Interior Architects exploring how design and delivery teams can create spaces people don’t just want to visit – but choose to stay in. 

In a world shaped by speed, digital saturation, and constant demands on attention, physical spaces are being asked to do more. Retail must earn emotional connection. Workplaces must support purpose, comfort, and human contact. Hospitality continues to set the standard for experience. 

Designing for Dwell(being) brings together experts from Agilité and IA Interior Architects to examine what truly drives dwell time today – and how interior environments can be crafted to feel generous, authentic, and restorative. Based on a cross-sector roundtable discussion, this guide explores: 

• The psychology of dwell and why time is becoming a new form of luxury 

• Lessons from retail, workplace and hospitality design 

• Materiality, sensory design and the return of “analogue” spaces 

• How vision and delivery teams create dwell through trust and collaboration 

• The role of wellbeing, neurodiversity, and belonging in shaping modern environments 

• Why post-occupancy insight is reframing how success is measured

Contributors include: 

• Andrew Wilkie, design manager (workplace) at IA  

• Carlotta Dove, director of consumer experience at IA Retail  

• Daniel Hunt, UK country head at Agilité  

• Debbie Bryant, project manager at Agilité 

• Eloisa Ronchi senior hospitality designer at IA 

• Matteo Bonotto, design manager at Agilité.