SHOWCASING THE WORLD’S FINEST PROPERTIES AND THE STORIES BEHIND THEM
Essential carriers of scent, flowers remain primary to the perfumer’s alchemical art of capturing and preserving that which is in nature fleeting, ephemeral, transient. (Ameenfahmy/Unsplash)
Ever walked into a five-star hotel and all your sense receptors leapt a little? A subtle fragrance in the air. The pulse of ambient music. The sumptuous texture of a velvet sofa inviting your fingertips to linger. The flicker of candles casting a flattering glow. If only those feelings could be bottled…
Turns out they can. It’s called sense-scaping. And it takes a team of highly trained industry professionals to make it happen. Beyond simply pimping the general aesthetics of a place, in the hands of experienced interior designers Sense-scaping is the art of making an environment memorable by stage-managing how its smell, sound, look and feel affects our sensory experience.
The concept isn’t new, but it is intensified. Alicia Meireles, creative director of architecture and interiors studio OWN LONDON, explains: “It’s existed in design for centuries, even if it wasn’t explicitly named – with designers seeking to create environments that evoke specific emotions, whether through texture, light or spatial arrangement. Rich fabrics, warm woods and the soft glow of candlelight were historically used to create luxurious, comforting spaces. What we see today is a more deliberate approach to this practice.”
As people become more aware of how their surroundings influence their overall wellbeing, they’re beginning to appreciate the value of creating interiors that appeal to all the senses. Seems like a cue for us to take a guided tour.
The lobby of the Higashiyama Niseko Village Ritz-Carlton hotel in Hokkaido, Japan, invites the senses to stay. Symmetry pleases the eye, soft upholstery mixes with natural wood, accents of light illuminate the snowy night outdoors. (YTL Hotels)
Our most elusive sense. Yet the slightest perception of a scent that suddenly jolts a forgotten memory can be the most evocative and powerful. Of course, moments like that occur only in a private dimension. Orchestrating the olfactory in public spaces is a more calculated exercise, where a client and a “curator of spaces” like Oliver Gustav work together to make the air enticing. The home fragrance that Gustav was commissioned to create for the 11 Howard Hotel in Lower Manhattan proved so beguiling to guests that they sell it in the lobby, in the Danish designer’s first outlet outside of his native Copenhagen.
International hotel giants Fairmont teamed up with New York-based creators of fine fragrance Le Labo. Rose 31 is “a compelling scent that connects guests to our hotel, no matter where in the world, and forms a lasting sense of familiarity long after each stay”.
Together, InterContinental hotels and Byredo produced Bal d’Afrique as part of the immersive stay experience. Pervading the hotel group’s portfolio, vetiver infused with neroli, African marigold and Moroccan cedarwood helps guests relive relaxing times. When you’re creating a memorable brand identity through scent, uniqueness is essential and subtlety a key to reward.
Off the lobby of the 11 Howard Hotel in Lower Manhattan, the buzzy bar with its polished countertop is the place to make some noise. (Marriott)
Just as seasonal adjustments apply to fragrances – fresher in warmer months, deeper in winter – so too the sounds that surround us ought to reflect the changing year. So says Portia Fox, creative director of her eponymous design practice. “Controlling the acoustics is vital, whether soundproofing to create peaceful retreats or installing discreet audio systems for immersive soundscapes.” A smart aural profile will meld with different spaces, making bars buzzy away from the zen of contemplative nooks.
In hospitality settings, with elevator musak gladly stuck in decades past, selecting a soundtrack (or none) that sets a conducive ambient tone involves a sophisticated set of choices. Noise is a primitive signal that either keeps your tribe of customers happily engaged or drives them off elsewhere.
With a glass wall hushing the bar behind, seductive lighting and the irresistible softness of velvet creates a quiet corner for intimate conversation at Manhattan’s 11 Howard Hotel. (Marriott)
Compared to the floataway waft of scent and instrumental abstract sound, look and feel are the most easily perceptible elements in the business of sense-scaping. You hardly need a Masters in Aesthetics to know that bright lighting doesn’t help meditative spaces, nor dim lighting assist the reading of menus in 6-point print.
Professionals favor variety when designing lighting systems sources. Natural daylight should predominate for obvious psychological benefit, with more subtle layered lighting introduced as evening falls. Back in the dark ages of history (say the 19th century) central overhead lighting was a great way to show off your wealth in public with blazing chandeliers. Nowadays the technology is all about helping us make subtler statements with a whisper.
But back to that velvet sofa you were inadvertently massaging a moment ago. Materials and textures are as vital to furniture design as form. Velvet is irresistibly, secretly seductive, it’s code for luxurious decadence. But again, it’s function over form that mediates design decisions. What makes a lounge chair plush would make a coffee table mucky.
At the Higashiyama Niseko Village, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve hotel in Hokkaido, a picture window allows the intimacy of the onsen-style soaking tub to almost touch the landscape. (YTL Hotels)
Corporate hospitality has sense-scaping covered. And homeowners with twitching antennae are picking up tips and bringing professional tricks back home. But bear in mind that not everything travels. That marigold scent that got your pheromones swooning at the InterContinental Mauritius may not translate so perfectly to your townhouse back in Boston. Interior designer Christian Bense offers some lessons.
Sense-scaping works best when applied to bringing out the best in a building, he says. Referencing a recent project at a 19th-century townhouse, the aim was to create an interior feel close to when it was originally built. “So we had to think about all the senses that would need to be stimulated to achieve this. Original floorboards with an uneven finish would feel authentic underfoot.”
An exercise in texture remakes a heritage property good as old. Sensations are created by different widths of floor-staves, a metallic slipper bath, different woods and highly tactile tapestry cupboard doors. (Christian Bense)
Bense favored textured wallpapers, plastered walls rough to the touch and a palette of earthy tones becoming lighter as you move up through the floors to mirror the tree canopy outside. Hints of jasmine and honeysuckle waft through the house from the gardens below. “The sound of birdsong is the only noise you can hear, thanks to the insulation we introduced.”
His secret to sense-scaping success at home? “Avoid sensory overload – remember that a home is very different to a hotel with its much more intense sensory environment. It’s just too overwhelming for every day.” And if any one thing should be our go-to principle? “Honor the authenticity of your home. Keep the styling, scenting and everything in-between aligned. It works wonders for the senses.”
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