We’ve been used to densification from a more is more stand point. More units, more footfall, more GDV: more. The narrative is focussed on the commerciality of densification rather than the benefits of what densification offers.

Densification can also mean less space. Incorporating 10 small units instead of 6 comfortable units looks great in a spreadsheet, but experientially the whole scheme needs to work harder so that what you lose doesn’t feel like a loss.

Here’s an example:

Back in December 2025 we did some research on capsule hotels as more and more are popping up across the UK and we wanted to better understand the offering and experience. 

Obviously, what you lose in comparison to a traditional hotel is single room privacy, an ensuite, a desk, chair, wardrobe....space. The things you use when you’re awake. But will that feel like a loss? Or can I get that from the same place, just in a different way? On this occasion, the answer it no. But it doesn’t have to be.

Initial thoughts on checking-in: it had the potential to be too hot and not enough ventilation. As it turns out, the temperature was fine and the air circulation was great; I had a good sleep both nights. Surprisingly, the capsules themselves, I’m actually a big fan of.

So what let it down? 
The operator forgot about the time spent awake.

• Nowhere for winter coats, wet shoes, or luggage, which means they sit in the corridor of the dorm itself.


• No communal workspace; unless sitting cross-legged in your capsule counts as “ergonomic.”


• No slippers or room socks, despite dozens of people cycling through the showers and dorms every hour. 


• No mention of sustainable products, practices or collaborations.

The capsules are off the shelf products.
It's the experience around them that needs to be designed. And that’s the opportunity: the sleep pod isn’t the product, the experience ecosystem is.

Densification is a spatial and operational play

In the example of the capsule hotels; solve the operational gaps, and they stop being a novelty and start becoming a high-customer lifetime value models; ultimately convenient, functional and productive spaces. The type of place you’d subscribe to and stay in every time you travel for work or on a short stay.

The same could be said for a co-working, co-living, any scheme where density if foundational for the model to work. Ultimately the play includes potential additional revenue streams that are going entirely untapped in many cases.

Final Thoughts

Push the concept as far as it can go. Work with teams who will leverage design to maximise the opportunities for your profits and your customers. Consider the very human day-to-day experience of these spaces and amenities. Use it as an opportunity for creative solutions to spatial challenges.

The UK has a viability challenge and it’s natural that the solutions to those challenges are in some way solved by increased densification. The schemes that do this best are the ones that offer more than the basic requirements; not necessarily spatially but experientially, socially and with purpose.