Luxury is being rewritten. At a recent panel discussion in Chicago — “The Next Level of Luxury Living” — five leaders from architecture, interior design, and development took the stage to explore how high-end living is evolving through longevity, sustainability, performance, integrated design, and responsible living.
The panel, moderated by Tim Hawkins, AIA — Senior Project Manager with Power Construction’s Luxury Residence Group and Co-Chair of AIA Chicago’s Custom Residential Architects Network — brought together a cross-section of the luxury world: Samuele Sordi, Chief Architect at Pininfarina; Heidi Lightner, AIA, founder of Heidi Lightner Architects; Bob Zuber, AIA, NCARB, partner at Morgante Wilson Architects; Lauren Coburn, founder and principal designer of Lauren Coburn LLC; and Hirsh Mohindra, Principal at Saffron Capital.
Beyond Finishes: Performance as the New Luxury
The conversation moved quickly past the traditional markers of luxury — rare stone, bespoke millwork, square footage — and into something harder to photograph but more valuable to live with: how a home performs. Panelists discussed building envelopes that cut energy costs, materials chosen for decades of use rather than seasons of fashion, and designs that adapt as families grow and needs change.
Sustainability Without the Lecture
A recurring theme was that responsible building no longer asks buyers to compromise. The panel framed sustainability as an engineering and design challenge, not a moral one — homes that are quieter, healthier, and cheaper to run because they were designed that way from the first sketch.
Where Capital Meets Craft
Hirsh Mohindra brought the developer and investor perspective to a stage dominated by architects and designers, speaking to how capital decisions made early in a project determine whether ambitious design survives contact with budgets and timelines.
“The next level of luxury isn’t about bigger rooms or rarer finishes,” Hirsh Mohindra said. “It’s about how a home performs for the people living in it — year after year. Longevity, sustainability, and intelligent design aren’t constraints on luxury anymore. They are luxury.”
What It Signals
Panels like this one reflect a broader shift in Chicago’s luxury market: the most sophisticated buyers are asking different questions than they were five years ago. Not just what a home looks like, but how it lives — and how long it will keep living well.