These Commercial Lobby Features Attract and Retain Tenants

First impressions are everything. For commercial buildings, that essential impression is made in the lobby.

“Employers no longer see their lobby as a solely transient space where people merely pass through," says Tiffany Kalloor, vice president and director of interior design for the Dallas office of Hoefer Wysocki, an interdisciplinary architecture, planning and interior design firm. “Today's lobbies are destinations unto themselves."

LoopNet had a chance to talk with some key designers to explore the latest trends in commercial lobbies, including the types of features that attract and retain tenants.

Embracing Biophilia

Office lobbies are taking cues from hospitality design — including a focus on comfortable seating, mood lighting and live plants — to create a welcoming first impression, says Shane Pliska, president of Planterra, a Detroit-based provider of interior landscape services and plant rentals.

Incorporating biophilic elements within lobby spaces can attract tenants and engage their senses, he adds. Biophilic design draws from biophilia, the human desire and tendency to commune with nature, which proponents say enhances well-being.

“Hotels and casinos as well as the grocery industry were early in discovering that placing live plants and flowers within the first-impression zone would increase sales," says Pliska. “It's not a surprise that the industries with the most research on the consumer psychology of space design would embrace this aspect."

For commercial real estate, he points to the addition of “living walls" — vertical surfaces that are densely covered with vegetation — to provide a calming focal point in the lobby space. Living walls may range from trailing ivy trellises to irrigated pre-grown planted panels.

Offices can also bring natural elements indoors through custom installations such as man-made or artificial waterfalls. For the newly renovated lobby of Great Eastern Energy in Brooklyn, New York, Detail Renovations created a custom, two-way glass-enclosed waterfall with backlit curved cement tiles. Custom piping encloses the waterfall, which is recessed into a tile wall with sunken LED lights.

“For today's office lobby, it's all about transforming the tenant experience," explains Larry Lander, principal at PDR, a business consulting, interior architecture and branding firm that designs workplaces. “A lobby can convey a message that important things go on there, or that people simply want to be there."

Prioritizing Flexibility of Use

Lobby spaces are the heart of a building and an extension of tenants' workspace. Because of their significance when it comes to the overall experience of the building's users, it's important to go beyond refreshing surface aesthetics when it's time for an update, says Lander.

For the recent transformation of Sage Plaza's 16,000-square-foot lobby in Houston, Lander's team at PDR designed a variety of distinct places for people to work, socialize and relax. These include a conference center with upgraded audiovisual capabilities, a coffee bar, and living room-like seating vignettes arranged around a water vapor fireplace.

“Lobbies are increasingly viewed as having multipurpose potential for workspace, socialization, lounging and dining," Kalloor affirms. “Strategically designing a space for flexibility of use is crucial."

Designing for Timelessness

Incorporating timeless finishes is another key trend in commercial lobby design, Kalloor adds.

“A neutral color palette with materials that mimic nature creates a look that is not only resilient to shifts in style, but also creates long-term value and flexibility for clients," she explains. “Variety can be found with components that are more easily updated rather than renovated, including fashionable furniture, bold artwork or unique accent pieces."

For the renovation of the 13,000-square-foot Park Central office building lobby in Dallas, Kalloor's team at Hoefer Wysocki provided a design solution that complemented the large structure with a timeless color and a unique accent piece.

“Simplicity reigns supreme with a classic shade of ocean blue set as the backdrop to a contemporary lighting sculpture," says Kalloor. “The avant-garde lighting fixture serves as a focal point of the design, which can be enjoyed from every level, not just the main floor."

Incorporating Experiential Features

With a nod to the resimercial design trend of more humanistic workplaces that blur the lines between work, home and play, architects and landlords are also incorporating more experiential features to attract and retain tenants.

“Given the trend that values experiences, landlords are using design in lobbies to create a space where employees don't feel as if they are in a traditional office building," says Chris Dendtler, partner at TRC Capital Partners. TRC is the development and investment firm that owns 1001 McKinney, a newly renovated historic landmark and commercial real estate building in downtown Houston.

The team at 1001 McKinney implemented custom historic design throughout the 5,000-square-foot lobby, including an original, hand-painted mural from a 1947 perspective; custom, highly detailed light fixtures; and an original, handcrafted security desk modeled on a 1940s-era clock. All of this is designed to create a unique experience for tenants, says Dendtler.

In the lobby of Frost Tower, the first new high-rise office building in San Antonio in 30 years, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects designed a dramatic focal point to create a striking interior experience, the firm says. The new lobby boasts expansive feature walls in which Banker Wire's architectural woven wire mesh is paired with mirror panels, as well as down lighting and exterior wall wash lighting. The feature walls span 2,900 square feet, measuring 100 feet in length and more than 30 feet in width.

“An effective workplace is all about the human experience that starts right at the front door," Lander emphasizes. “Lobbies play an outsized role in this human experience — they can amplify it, color it or even destroy it."

Lobbies will continue to play a pivotal role in our post-pandemic world through their function, security and safety features, he adds.

“In the return to the workplace, landlords and building owners will promote their commitment to the safest, cleanest and most effective building by featuring how these common elements are secure and safe, sanitized, and amenity-rich."