This paper frames extended reality (XR) as an information-based designed environment and argues that its design requires principles, tools and methods of digital design and experience design to be revisited and revised. Approaching the design of XR environments from the perspective of information architecture, the paper stipulates that the naturality commonly associated with a sense of presence in XR space cannot be achieved simply through the design or redesign of the visual interface layer, but rather requires a structural approach that leverages human embodiment and spatial thought. The paper tracks this conversation from interface to architecture by anchoring it to Bates’ seminal work on information seeking strategies as exaptation and on her seminal intuition of the role that the environment plays in supporting human information needs; to Horan’s definition of physical and digital space as elements in a continuum in which the ongoing expansion of digital is transforming the physical environment; to Benyon’s conceptualization of blended space as the novel space emerging from the intimate commingling of digital with physical; and to Resmini and Rosati’s heuristic information architecture principles for the design of digital/physical experiences. The paper then describes important structural challenges in the design of XR environments, illustrates the relevance of the framing introduced here by means of a brief case study, and concludes by offering a discussion and preliminary conclusions. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.