Homes.com Here's what residential designers and architects are watching in 2026
Photography: Will Austin
Todd Smith, founding partner of Syndicate Smith in Leavenworth, Washington
Keeping an eye on: "In our world, region and business model: I'd like to suggest that things are trending toward people thinking more seriously about the environment in which they're living and or inheriting or going to be living in, as opposed to thinking about a home and a purchase. This circumvents trends in the fashion sense or fleeting sense. ... It locks in the value of architecture as a necessity with reverence for the land, location and environment in which it sits because of the unknowns of the future our world gives us and that we command."
Those shifting areas of focus also have clients thinking about their homes and designed spaces as heirloom investments, especially as the cost of building materials rises, Smith explained.
"The people we are getting to work with are valuing topics more focused on resiliency and quality as opposed to home value, market setting and real estate transaction," he said. "This suggests a larger legacy mentality on home building as opposed to something that they can turn a profit from after construction."