you can’t value engineer your way to desire.

If workspace is to be a genuinely curated experience, the “hotel vibe” is not the silver bullet.

An insightful Estates Gazette conference yesterday on the evolution of workspace — a fantastic mix of perspectives from investors, developers, operators, and even psychologists.

The right questions are finally being asked: Is the occupier truly at the heart of the offices we’re designing? And if so, is workspace now less a utility and more a curated experience?

But here’s the thing — if we’re serious about curation, we have to fully commit. Developers, agents, operators, and designers can’t expect different results using the same tools and processes, just because they’ve thrown in a “hotel vibe” as a cosmetic overlay. That’s like claiming fluency in a foreign language after a one-week Duolingo streak.

If we’re designing for consumer experience, we need to think and act like a consumer brand — one that sells a lifestyle, not bricks and mortar.

Take Hermès for example. They didn’t become iconic by perfecting the stitch count — they became iconic because they sell desire, not leather.

If Hermès thought like many developers do today, they’d be churning out value-engineered handbags and slapping on a gold lock to call it “luxury.”

You don’t build desire through value engineering. You build it through conviction.