Top Flooring Choices for Apartment Community Amenity Spaces in 2025: A Trend-Driven Guide for Builders and Designers
In 2025, the aesthetic, durability, and sustainability of flooring materials are more important than ever when designing amenity spaces in apartment communities. These communal areas — from gyms and lounges to lobbies and co-working spaces — are the heart of modern living. With increasing demand for multifamily residences that provide both comfort and functionality, the flooring selected can elevate the experience of residents, and that’s no small feat. But what flooring choices are at the top of the list for builders and designers this year? Let’s dive in and explore the top contenders, their reasons for popularity, and how they enhance the spaces they inhabit.
What are the top considerations when designers and builders select flooring for their multi-family apartment communities you ask?
Durability & Low Maintenance: Flooring like LVP and polished concrete offer long-lasting solutions with minimal upkeep, ideal for high-traffic amenity spaces.
Sustainability: Eco-friendly options like terrazzo, rubber, and engineered hardwood are popular choices, aligning with green building trends and environmentally conscious design.
Versatility in Design: Materials like LVP and carpet tiles come in a wide range of styles, allowing for customization to fit any aesthetic, from modern to cozy.
Safety & Comfort: Rubber flooring and carpet tiles provide cushioning and slip-resistance, making them perfect for spaces like gyms, playrooms, and wellness areas.
Luxury Appeal: Engineered hardwood and terrazzo bring high-end, timeless beauty to communal spaces, adding elegance and warmth to apartment amenities.
1. Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) Flooring: The Versatile Favorite
Why It’s Popular: Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) flooring has become the gold standard for apartment amenities, especially in high-traffic areas. LVP is an engineered product designed to mimic the natural look of hardwood, stone, or tile without the hefty price tag or maintenance demands. It’s durable, water-resistant, and comes in a myriad of styles, textures, and finishes, making it an incredibly adaptable choice.
Reasons for Popularity:
Durability: LVP is highly resistant to scratches, stains, and moisture — essential for spaces that experience lots of foot traffic or potential water spills, such as gyms or lounge areas.
Cost-Effective: It delivers the luxurious appearance of natural materials but at a fraction of the cost, which is a huge win for budget-conscious designers.
Low Maintenance: Unlike hardwood or carpet, LVP is easy to clean and maintain, requiring only periodic sweeping and mopping. This is especially advantageous for busy community spaces.
Sustainability: Many LVP options now feature eco-friendly manufacturing processes, contributing to greener building practices, which is appealing to environmentally-conscious residents and builders alike.
2. Polished Concrete: Industrial Chic with Functionality
Why It’s Popular: Polished concrete has taken the design world by storm for its modern, minimalist appeal. In 2025, it’s no longer just for warehouses and factories. This sleek, durable surface has found a home in apartment amenity spaces like lounges, corridors, and even rooftop areas.
Reasons for Popularity:
Enduring Strength: Concrete is almost indestructible and is perfect for high-traffic areas. It’s resistant to wear, tear, and stains, making it ideal for amenity spaces where longevity is crucial.
Urban, Modern Aesthetic: Polished concrete provides a clean, industrial look that resonates with contemporary design preferences. It complements other high-end finishes like glass, steel, and wood, offering versatility in design.
Sustainability: Concrete is a sustainable material, and when polished, it requires fewer chemical treatments, reducing its environmental impact. Plus, its long lifespan minimizes the need for replacement.
Thermal Mass Benefits: Polished concrete can help regulate indoor temperatures, making it a more energy-efficient option, especially for larger amenity areas.
3. Carpet Tile: Soft, Customizable, and Comfortable
Why It’s Popular: Carpet tile, or modular carpet, is a practical and stylish option for areas that demand comfort and acoustical control, like co-working spaces or lounges. It’s a flexible flooring solution that gives designers the ability to customize color schemes and patterns, making it a versatile choice for apartment communities with various aesthetic visions.
Reasons for Popularity:
Acoustic Properties: Carpet tiles provide superior sound absorption, making them a great option for spaces where noise control is a priority, such as theaters, game rooms, or fitness areas.
Design Flexibility: Carpet tiles come in an array of colors, textures, and designs, offering endless customization possibilities. Whether you’re going for a bold geometric pattern or a more subdued, neutral look, the options are vast.
Easy Maintenance: With carpet tiles, it’s easy to replace individual pieces if they get stained or damaged. This reduces the overall maintenance cost compared to traditional wall-to-wall carpeting.
Comfort and Warmth: Carpet tiles provide a soft underfoot feel, which is ideal for spaces where people may spend extended amounts of time, such as yoga studios or social lounges.
4. Terrazzo: The Eco-Friendly, Timeless Beauty
Why It’s Popular: Once considered a vintage flooring material, terrazzo has made a massive comeback in recent years, especially in apartment amenities. Its customizable and artistic look, combined with its sustainable credentials, makes it an excellent choice for forward-thinking apartment communities.
Reasons for Popularity:
Sustainability: Terrazzo is made from a combination of recycled materials, including glass, marble, and granite chips, which makes it an environmentally friendly option. The fact that it lasts for decades further contributes to its green appeal.
Aesthetic Appeal: With its distinctive mosaic-like pattern, terrazzo offers an artistic and colorful touch. The ability to customize the chips’ colors and sizes allows designers to create unique, statement-making floors.
Longevity: Terrazzo is virtually indestructible. It resists cracking and stains, making it a great option for spaces that see heavy use, such as lobbies and fitness centers.
Low Maintenance: While it may require periodic polishing to maintain its shine, terrazzo’s low-maintenance nature and long lifespan make it an ideal choice for high-traffic amenity areas.
5. Rubber Flooring: Resilient and Safe
Why It’s Popular: Rubber flooring is making waves in apartment communities, particularly in fitness areas and play zones, due to its safety and comfort benefits. It provides cushioning that reduces the risk of injury, while also being slip-resistant and durable.
Reasons for Popularity:
Safety: Rubber flooring’s slip-resistant nature makes it a safe option for wet or high-mobility spaces like gyms, wellness areas, and even kids’ playrooms.
Durability: Resistant to scuffs, scratches, and dents, rubber flooring is incredibly durable, and its resilience ensures it can withstand heavy equipment and foot traffic over time.
Eco-Friendly: Made from recycled materials such as old tires, rubber flooring is a sustainable option that aligns with eco-conscious building trends.
Comfort: The cushioning effect of rubber flooring provides a comfortable underfoot experience, making it ideal for spaces where people may be standing for long periods or engaging in high-impact activities.
6. Engineered Hardwood: Warmth and Luxury
Why It’s Popular: Engineered hardwood has become a staple in luxury apartment designs due to its natural beauty and high-end appeal. Whether it’s for lounges, clubhouses, or lobby areas, engineered hardwood brings warmth, elegance, and a timeless look that’s difficult to match with other materials.
Reasons for Popularity:
- Elegance: The rich, authentic look of hardwood floors adds an unparalleled touch of luxury. The variety of wood types, finishes, and textures ensures there’s an option for every design style.
- Stability: Unlike solid hardwood, engineered hardwood is more resistant to expansion and contraction, making it a great choice for areas with fluctuating temperatures and humidity.
- Sustainability: With increasing demand for sustainable practices, many engineered hardwood products are made from responsibly sourced wood, contributing to a greener, more eco-friendly building approach.
- Low Maintenance: Engineered hardwood is easier to maintain than solid wood, requiring less frequent refinishing and offering increased durability over time.
When choosing the right flooring for apartment community amenity spaces in 2025, it’s clear that aesthetics and functionality must go hand in hand. Whether it’s the affordability and durability of luxury vinyl plank, the polished simplicity of concrete, or the eco-friendly artistry of terrazzo, these flooring choices are setting the stage for future-proof, high-performing designs.
As apartment communities evolve, the key to success lies in selecting materials that are not only visually stunning but also durable, low-maintenance, and environmentally responsible. In 2025, flooring materials will continue to shape the way we experience and enjoy these spaces, leaving a lasting impression on both residents and visitors alike.