What hospitality can teach every sector about designing for dwell

Hospitality has always been the benchmark for dwell time. Hotels, cafés, bars and restaurants understand what many workplaces and retailers are now relearning – people stay longer in spaces that feel generous, intuitive, and emotionally safe.

As wellbeing, connection, and sensory comfort rise in importance, sectors across the board are looking to hospitality for cues. Unlike offices or retail, hospitality isn’t driven by mandated presence or essential transactions. People are there by choice – and they stay when the environment supports comfort, attention, relaxation, and memory-making.

What hospitality gets right

• Generosity of space – Seats that invite you to sit, lighting that relaxes the body, and layouts that encourage conversation or contemplation.
• Rituals of care – Subtle service moments that reinforce belonging, such as a welcoming gesture, a warm greeting, attention to detail instantly make users feel at ease.
• Sensory refinement – Soft soundscapes, tactile materials, and crafted finishes are intentional, not incidental.
• People-centred flow – Paths that feel intuitive encourage natural transitions between zones, setting a cohesive tone and keeping the senses in a steady state.
• Consistency of delivery – Wither a boutique hotel, flagship restaurant or trendy cocktail lounge, hospitality succeeds because the experience matches the brand promise.

Hybrid work, digital saturation, and changing consumer habits have created a shared need across industries: environments that care for people. Retail wants to feel calmer, offices more welcoming, and public buildings more human.

Hospitality already knows how to do this, and it does so with ease. But, for hospitality experiences to feel effortless, the build quality must be exceptional, which is why fit-out precision, acoustics, lighting control and tactile material installation have the power to affect the emotional tone.

And, as other sectors seek “hospitality-level experience”, the bar for delivery teams rises. If you want people to dwell – whether in a store, an office, or a lobby – design for how you want them to feel, and ensure the delivery matches the vision.

This theme runs through our most recent guide, written in collaboration with IA, ‘designing for Dwell(being): Why time, trust and tangibility define the next era of interiors’. Click here to download.