In honor of International Women’s Day, Bright Spaces marks the third edition of the Inspiring Women in Real Estate series, highlighting the perspectives of women shaping the real estate industry. Over the past two years, the series has brought together leading voices from across the sector to reflect on topics such as hybrid work, sustainability, transparency, and efficiency.

This year, the conversation turns toward the future, inviting industry leaders to share the shifts they believe will redefine real estate in the coming years. One theme emerged consistently across their answers: the industry is moving beyond square meters toward spaces designed around experience, community, and performance.

For years, real estate was largely evaluated through familiar metrics: location, square meters, lease terms, occupancy, and cost. Those fundamentals still matter, but the definition of value is evolving.

As Mihaela Petruescu, Head of Property Services at Nhood Services, explains:

“We are moving from a model where value comes from simply occupying space to one where value comes from the outcomes that space creates. Occupiers are not signing leases anymore — they are investing in productivity, flexibility and performance.”

Across markets, roles, and asset types, the same shift appears: real estate is increasingly measured by what it enables.

The office has to earn its relevance

One of the clearest insights from this year’s contributors is that the office is no longer automatically relevant. It has to justify its place in people’s work lives.

Anamaria Cretu, Leasing & Asset Director at EVO Properties, describes the transformation clearly:

“One structural change that will reshape real estate over the next 3–5 years is the permanent shift from space as a commodity to space as a strategic experience. The office today has to earn its relevance. It must offer more than desks — it must support collaboration, wellbeing, and community.”

Samantha Sannella, National Senior Managing Director, Strategic Consulting Canada at Cushman & Wakefield, sees the same evolution happening at an organizational level:

“The shift from ‘space as cost’ to ‘space as performance infrastructure’ will fundamentally reshape the industry. Organizations are moving beyond square footage optimization toward portfolio strategies that tie real estate decisions directly to talent attraction, employee engagement, productivity and long-term resilience.”

In her view, the workplace also plays a critical role in shaping company culture:

“Workplace is being redefined as a vehicle for visually persistent culture — the intentional design of environments that make values, purpose and identity tangible every day.”

Andreea Paun, Managing Partner at Griffes, sees this change already influencing how companies evaluate office space:

“We are moving from ‘renting office space’ to ‘creating a full workplace destination.’ Companies don’t choose offices only for price and location. They choose places that help people come in, work well together, and feel good.”

From workplace to destination

If offices must now earn their relevance, what does that look like in practice?

For Florina Grosu, Leasing Manager at Adventum, the role of the office is evolving toward community:

“The shift from viewing offices as ‘pure real estate assets’ to seeing them as community platforms — places that foster connection, belonging and shared identity, not just desks and square metres.”

She notes that tenants increasingly choose buildings based on the environment they create:

“They’re choosing where their people want to be, where they feel part of something larger than themselves.”

Maria Jianu, Leasing Director at Speedwell Development, believes hospitality and experience are becoming central to how assets compete:

“Real estate is increasingly moving towards hospitality. The ability to curate mixed-use environments and operate buildings as living ecosystems will be key in maintaining the long-term attractiveness of assets.”

She also highlights the growing role of experiential value:

“People are no longer choosing spaces only based on location or price, but on the quality of the experience a place creates — from design and amenities to the sense of community it fosters.”

Ioana Sima, Investment Director at Inno Investments SAI, also sees rising expectations around the quality of spaces people use every day.

“We’ve all become much more demanding about the quality of the spaces we use, whether it’s residential, office, or even retail and production. People want nicer places to live, work, and shop, and that drives a lot of decisions. Because of this, I think we’ll see not only new developments but also many refurbishments, supported by new technologies and innovative solutions that make buildings more efficient and more attractive.”

Amanda Barker, Senior Manager Leasing at GWL Realty Advisors, sees the same shift emerging across North American markets:

“As a society, we emerged from the pandemic with a greater appreciation for work-life balance, and employee wellbeing is now consistently ranked at the top of many organizations’ priority lists.”

She believes this is transforming how buildings are designed and managed:

“This will create an entirely different working environment — one based on hospitality fundamentals rather than merely providing the bare necessities.”

Even in markets where hybrid work has been established for years, the shift toward quality is becoming increasingly visible.

Alexandra Rosian, Senior Fund Manager at ASR Dutch Mobility Office Fund, explains:

“Hybrid working has become embedded in the way we work since the pandemic. This has contributed to a shift in demand for office space, from quantity to quality, with the focus on flexible space layout, sustainability, and location. Office occupancy on peak days (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) is now back to or higher than pre-covid levels”

Hospitality, community and the human side of value

Another theme running through this year’s responses is the growing importance of relationships and human connection.

Izabela Potrykus, Leasing Office Director at CPI Poland, describes the transformation through the concept of service:

“The biggest transformation in real estate will come from moving beyond thinking of space simply in terms of square meters and instead focusing on the experiences and services it offers — fully embracing the concept of ‘space as a service’.”

Alina Aeby, Founder and President of the Silicon Valley Proptech Association, believes this shift is also supported by technological progress across the industry:

“Real estate is where technology meets the physical world. With better data and digital tools, the industry can address long-standing issues around transparency, planning, and access to finance.”

She sees this as an opportunity to create more efficient and inclusive markets:

“That has the potential to make property markets more efficient and more inclusive.”

Mihaela Petruescu brings the conversation back to its most fundamental level:

“What keeps me optimistic is the people. People will always seek places that make them feel productive, connected and inspired.”

As she puts it:

“Real estate has always been, at its core, a people's business wrapped in concrete and glass.”

Anca Mitrea, Head of ESG & Senior Asset Manager at Paval Holding, shares a similar perspective:

“People will always need and value buildings. They live in them, work in them, shop in them and continue to imagine and create new ones.”

What comes next

Technology is advancing. AI is entering workflows. Data is becoming more powerful. Yet none of these developments replace the need for places where people want to gather, collaborate, and belong.

If anything, expectations are rising.

Real estate is not moving away from its fundamentals. It is rediscovering them through a more human lens — one where experience, community, and belonging increasingly shape how spaces are designed and used.

From space to experience.
From asset to destination.
From square meters to meaning.

Yet experience is only part of the transformation. As real estate becomes more complex, leaders are also learning to navigate a new landscape shaped by data, technology, and interdisciplinary thinking.

In the second article of this series, we explore how the industry is entering a new phase: the rise of intelligent real estate.