In 2025, increased in-office attendance and urban footfall is likely to continue to spotlight ‘experience’ as critical with a broader perspective on designing for end-to-end experience journeys. While employee experience has become a key focus in recent years as part of return-to-office incentives, ‘street to seat’ experience will become more crucial for developers and employers in attracting talent attraction, boosting workplace attendance and revitalizing urban centers. ‘Street to seat’ experience considers the touchpoints of employees or consumers journeys through surrounding environments to their destination, whether that’s workplace, retail stores or leisure facilities.

Greater focus on the ‘street to seat’ experience for workplaces will see more investment in high-quality shared amenities in buildings like gyms and outdoor spaces, end-of-commute facilities, and surrounding retail and food options. End-to-end experience design for occupiers will focus on connecting and enhancing experience across touchpoints for seamless arrivals that integrate functional requirements like booking systems food and beverage options, with unique space designs, elevated culture and branding and tailored office perks.

Street to seat experiences will also encompass the interplay between workplace design and the curation of spaces for employee experiences. Employers are investing in ‘special events’ (e.g., external speakers, cooking demonstrations, etc.) to incentivize return to office, with a need for suitable spaces to support these events; 43% of employers have these in place and 17% are considering them for 2025. This will drive creativity in reconfiguring existing spaces to support social activities, maximize experiential value from existing assets and enable greater collaboration with workplace experience programs. The number of organizations reporting they have a dedicated community or workplace experience manager on site has risen from 23% to 35% in the past year.

Beyond the workplace, ‘street to seat’ experience design is a critical factor in mixed-use, retail and urban regenerations. With more options than ever for at-home entertainment, shopping and working, the design and curation of experiences is now integral to real estate development and is seen as a key tool to attract people back to workplaces, retail districts and urban centers. JLL Consumer Experience Survey shows that younger generations will drive this demand: 84% of Gen Z agree that ‘cities need to offer new experiences to stay relevant’, compared to the all-generations average of 60%.

In mixed-use developments and retail centers we will see flexible retail design that supports brand collaborations and pop-ups, innovative landscape design that can flex for food or arts festivals or community events, and investment in street art or sculpture that activates ‘in-between spaces’.

Retrofitting and conversion of existing buildings continues to gain momentum in 2025, as global trends of aging building stock, supply shortages across sectors and in-demand locations, and increased ESG requirements are increasing the risk of a ‘do-nothing’ approach for developers, landlords and occupiers.

In 2025 this continued momentum will accelerate the role of design in unlocking holistic value from investment in sustainability features and building refurbishments. Effective strategies for existing buildings will go beyond improved energy efficiency and functional upgrades, taking a more holistic approach to retrofit design that can support talent and visitor attraction, brand strategy, community impact and improved health and wellbeing.

While JLL Research shows that 60% of employers plan to increase investment in building refurbishments in the next five years and increase investment in sustainability performance of real estate, sustainability demands are driven by both corporate commitments and changing employee expectations. Younger generations choose to work and live in environments that demonstrate sustainability credentials, with 72% of Gen Z and Millennials reporting they ‘always choose the most environmentally friendly option’ as consumers, compared to 55% of those aged 60 years and over.

Sustainable design will become more integrated with organizations branding, and visually demonstrating eco-credentials will be a design focus in 2025. We’ll see increased use of natural and recycled material palettes to create more tangible links between an organizational sustainability journey and visual identity, an important factor in talent attraction.

At an urban scale, sustainability-focused mixed-use regeneration will be key for ‘destination places’ centered around green spaces, community access and ‘science-led design’ that demonstrates sustainability and circular principles and showcases sustainable credentials.

As developers and occupiers look to future-proof investments in buildings, these trends indicate the importance of considering the following principles:

• People-centric design is evolving to consider the impact of buildings on individuals and groups. Developers and occupiers should consider engaging with non-traditional design fields, such as psychology or sociology, as part of developing the definitions of design teams.
• The use of data & research embedded in design strategies will become central to navigate complex design requirements. AI tools and ‘science-led design’ approaches will provide greater opportunities to enhance sustainable and human-centric design.
• New partnerships will be needed to connect design investment to broader outcomes including talent attraction and operational efficiency. Early integration of interior design, brand strategy and experience design can achieve greater return on investment.