5D Design
Issue 33 - Augl 07

There is much more to successful design than achieving the right look.

Is scent a design feature? Why do we muffle sound one minute and pipe it in the next? Who cares if it looks nice so long as it works? Does anyone notice sinking into that extra 5 mm of carpet? Who ever wants to taste a commercial design? Our five senses have more to offer than you might think.

Design shouldn’t be limited to what we can see or sit on. Commercial spaces, meaning offices, retail spaces and hotels are almost with out exception (initially) designed by professionals. If design was simply about making something look good then we wouldn’t have two different words for designers and artists, and if it were merely to provide functionality then why separate engineers and
designers? In some ways designers, good ones, are more like the latter. Their job is to solve human problems, says Eames Demetrios, artist, designer and grandson of the late design legends Ray and Charles Eames.

touch
The effect of certain design features on some of the senses cannot be calculated so easily. Walking into a lush office reception, visitors will first notice an impression of status and wealth through the colour scheme and the use of
finishes. But they may not immediately register the way their feet sink into the plush carpet or the way their fingers skim across a perfectly smooth marble reception desk. Yet this sense of touch has been instrumental in forming their
impression of the space.

Chris Browne, Director, HBO EMTB explains, “The senses we feel as we enter a space are referenced against a memory bank of our experiences and can affect our reaction to, or perception, of the owner, or brand. Whether a pleasant association such as the soft lighting and rich warm fabrics that affect our vision and sound in an expensive restaurant, evoking a sense of calm or a special
time.

At the other end of the spectrum, he continues, “possible anxiety associated with the smell of mouth wash and the effect of bright lights” might evoke the memory of a dentist’s surgery. Although it might appear foolish to deliberately invoke what might seem an unpleasant memory, he believes these sensations “also evoke a trust or identity we need of the dentist; just as with any space the senses experienced need to align with the character of the occupant or brand. Therefore the set of senses we experience in an interior formed an important part of the
total picture we have of the occupant or brand.” The senses of sight and touch evidently equate to what interior designers call the “look and feel” of a space.
If “look” were all important, the space would be two dimensional and inhospitable, the third dimension of allows for grand spaces with the “feeling” of wind whipping through, or intimate environments where the warmth of candle light invokes cosiness and comfort. Like a film director, designers must also be aware of sound and the effect that it has on the users of a space. Sound
reduction can alter perception in a number of ways, in a private bank for example, “thick pile carpets, fabric walls, and timber frame chairs could evoke a sense, or
perception, of confidentiality and confidence through the silence brought about through low sound reverberation”, says Browne.

Mark Fancourt, Vice President of IT, Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts, is headquartered in Singapore and integrates products aimed to stimulate multiple senses into their IT systems. “I like to think we’re pretty progressive in this way” says Fancourt, as these are essentially technology products. For example, music and sounds heard throughout the Pan Pacific are integrated with the other
electrical and technological systems within the building. He works with a company called Equal Strategy to do so, and they also offer systems that allow for the distribution of pleasant scents through similar technology.

smell
Evidently the reduction or containment of noxious odours caused by paint, glue, garbage or worse is the goal of anyone running any sort of facility, but scent is also a design feature, especially in hospitality projects. Scent, however is rarely built-in at the “design” stage. Paul Borrett explains “The most utilised is obviously the sense of sight, texture in materials can be experienced both in sight, such as the grain of wood, as well as by touch, such as the contrast between polished or flame finished stonework. Smell is a hard sense to consider in design. For corporate offices this is typically limited to low emission materials and ensuring fresh air supply. But if a spa was being designed for example we may wish to consider arrangements that allow for placement of
scented candles or similar items.”

Scent is more likely to be added afterwards and implemented by operations or technical staff. As Harald H. Vogt, Founder & Chief Marketer, Scent Marketing
Institute wrote on a hospitality web-group WIWIH discussion board, “go to any scent delivery systems manufacturer’s web site and you will find a long list of hotels where they pipe in scent -- mostly in the common areas.

Starwood Hotels is one of the few that actually admit (and advertise) that they do it at a number of their various brand hotels. Most of the others are (or at least seem to be) very hush-hush about it”. In Asia, Langham Place Hotel pipes scent into the public spaces and they change this based on the season, for example flowers in spring and cinnamon in winter.

taste
Some people would say that taste has no place in the world on interior design. Few people consider licking decorative brickwork after all and yet everyone has heard the story of the real estate agent showing a house with whose aroma of freshly baked cookies casting an aroma sending the message “your new home”.

According to Gaye Salangsang of Igor’s Group, a chain of restaurants, the sense of taste can also be invoked through images of food or even a food shaped logo, which could inspire potential patrons to consume. It is this blending of senses and the way they interact that inspires many designers.

Browne says “although we are only talking about materials and detailing, it is our memories and associations that affect our perceptions of the owner of a space when we enter, whether a corporate office, a shop or a restaurant. As designers, we use this effect on perceptions and associations to influence the response of the visitor.”

beyond the five senses
While we have five designated senses, they all overlap and influence each other combine to create the overall impression. Terry Waterhouse, Director of Red Goods Ltd, Retail Design and Implementation Consultancy in the retail arena, “a major contributor to the shopping enjoyment evolves from human contacts and touching the emotional triggers that ignite our senses.”

Waterhouse continues to say it goes beyond just these senses. “The development of environments, products and services that satisfy the consumer’s sensory perceptions, has shown, as recent scientific advances suggest, that humans have more than five senses, the consumer will find themselves be engaged in a whole new range of extra-sensorial experiences. Besides the purely medical and wellness benefits one of the most exciting developments emerging is a genetic mapping of what we find ‘pleasing’ – mainly through taste and smell”.

As Asian designers put together the spaces in which we live work and shop something that offers only visual, or worse still financial, appeal has failed to solve the problem of human space. Design is a solution. Waterhouse believes it is a solution akin to the continuation of the species. “The future of retail is to move beyond the five senses. The emotional and spiritual intelligence of the consumer will be key in any future development of retail brand experience. Just as sex is highly important in human every day life!” RFP

NOMINATE NOW

Subscribe Now

Sign Up for Ezine

Past Issues