The Value of Design: Interior Architecture as a Real Estate Model

By Editorial Staff - 24 September 2025
Atlas Concorde has participated in the project

With the real estate sector rediscovering the central role of interior design,
THE PLAN, in collaboration with Atlas Concorde, organized a roundtable discussion on the topic that saw the participation of architects, developers, and businesspeople. The event, titled “Around Design” and held on June 25 at the Atlas Concorde Studio in Milan, brought together key industry figures: Cristiana Martina Colli and Paolo Bombonato (Artelia Group), Luigi Goffredo (Costim), Paolo Brescia (OBR – Open Building Research), Marco Antonio and Luigi Cappelletti (Prelios Group), Tiziano Vudafieri and Claudio Saverino (Vudafieri-Saverino Partners), Luca Giannelli (United Consulting), and Maurizio Mazzotti (Atlas Concorde).

Il valore del design: quando l’architettura di interni diventa un esempio per il Real Estate | © courtesy COSTIM ChorusLife Pietra Ligure (SV), render, masterplan Genius Loci Architettura, sviluppato da Costim.

At the heart of the session was the importance of interior architecture as the “infrastructure” of the domestic experience and as a powerful catalyst for both relationships and real estate value. Tiziano Vudafieri explained how, following a decade’s experience in luxury retail, his studio has learned to read and interpret spaces, casting architects as story listeners even before storytellers.

The discussion then moved on to interior design’s responsibility to generate a sense of belonging. Marco Antonio Cappelletti focused on threshold spaces – entryways, courtyards, internal transitions – as distinctive elements that help forge a building’s identity. Claudio Saverino followed this up by saying, “Interior architecture is the construction of relationships among people”. This perspective was shared by Paolo Brescia, for whom interior design – when working with forward-thinking clients – marks the moment a building connects with the lives of its residents.

Il valore del design: quando l’architettura di interni diventa un esempio per il Real Estate | © Carola Merello, courtesy OBR Riviera Airport, Albenga (SV), OBR e Milan Ingegneria.

A central theme that emerged from the discussion was social impact in relation to ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria. Luca Giannelli and Luigi Goffredo called for a shared metric for assessing how design quality can increase cohesion and generate tangible community value. Everyone present recognized listening as fundamental to any effective partnership. Paolo Bombonato spoke about “listening through design”, while Maurizio Mazzotti highlighted the need for co-design: “Our responsibility is to identify needs and anticipate solutions”. Cristiana Martina Colli then discussed the importance of aligning economic and financial feasibility with tangible human and social benefits, stressing that involving the entire supply chain in shaping the overall design concept from the outset ensures a sustainable business plan. Projects like Chorus Life, developed by Costim, exemplify this integrated vision by focusing on people and the social dimension.

If interior architecture can generate beauty, emotion, and lasting value, it is time to recognize it as a foundational element of contemporary real estate development.