Steve Lindsey, CEO, Garden Spot Communities (New Holland, Pa.)
Editor’s Note: This article is part of Environments for Aging’s Industry Predictions series. Throughout January, EFA will share perspectives from respected industry voices on where the sector may head in 2026 and what challenges and opportunities are on their radar.
Environments for Aging is kicking off its 2026 Senior Living Design Predictions series with Steve Lindsey, CEO, Garden Spot Communities (New Holland, Pa.).
Here, Lindsey shares his thoughts on what opportunities and challenges are ahead for the industry over the next 12 months, including mass customization to meet seniors’ needs, effective intergenerational communities, and the shift toward applying neuroscience to architecture and interior design.
Environments for Aging: Where did you see the most noteworthy progress in senior living design in 2025?
Lindsey: There has been more conversation, and implementation, of inclusive design in the past year that is creating more flexible and accessible spaces that support well-being. We continue to see movement toward urban locations that take advantage of the walkable environments and accessible amenities.
EFA: Where do you think the senior living industry will head in 2026?
Lindsey: Design will continue to evolve as we lean into the post-demographic consumer market, where older adults refuse to be categorized and compartmentalized by their age, gender, race, or other demographic traits.
The new consumer is aware of, and has experience with, a wide range of options to which they gravitate based on their own identity and preferences … refusing to be relegated to live in an environment that is designed for people of a certain generation.
The world is too complex, ideas are too available, and people are too networked to think that there is a set design approach that will fit all baby boomers, so we will see much more diversity and mass customization enter our field.
EFA: What do you see as the biggest opportunity for change in the new year?
Lindsey: We continue to struggle to understand how to develop intergenerational environments that effectively meet the needs of all users and lead to the development of relationships that cross the generational divide.
As new models emerge, the opportunity is to test these to see if they produce the results that are intended.
EFA: What emerging trends or opportunities are you most excited about—and why?
Lindsey: The relatively new field of neuroaesthetics will begin to inform our design approaches as the tools and techniques of neuroscience are applied to architecture and interior design.
This shift will continue as we better understand how the brain responds to beauty and how it processes aesthetic judgments and emotions. This will give us the ability to create environments that are designed more precisely to evoke certain feelings and emotions for those who live there as well as those who visit.
Anne DiNardo is editor-in-chief of Environments for Aging and can be reached at [email protected].
Headshot credit: Jeremy Hess
