Specifying Interior Materials That Perform Over Time

Why design intent requires material literacy and real-world vetting

Architectural design intent lives or dies in the details. Nowhere is that more evident than in interior material specifications—where performance, installation realities, and long-term behavior determine whether a project ages with integrity or degrades through compromise.

Yet many interior material decisions are still made based on aesthetic alignment, marketing claims, or limited sample review, rather than true material literacy. Drawings can be precise. Details can be elegant. But if the material specified cannot perform as intended once it meets installers, substrates, tolerances, moisture, use patterns, and time—the design intent erodes. (Read More)