Experiential design is a rising trend topic, but designer Rosa Santiago Zimmerman of RSZ Design + Development, with 27 years in the industry, sees it as a new spin on a fundamental design practice. “This is a new way of describing something every successful designer has been incorporating in their processes for years.

“Experiential design requires the designer to care,” she says, “to use their personal senses to engage, connect, touch, and sense what the space will need to look and feel like for the clients being served.” In other words, a part of every design process is reflecting on the feelings and special experiences we hope or need to create, before the work even begins. 

The science-backed method of sensory design aims to make all spaces user-friendly, accommodating diverse needs and tapping into the five senses to create environments that impact people both in the moment and long after they depart.

Ashley Hill used Emerald^® Interior in Urbane Bronze SW 7048 (245-C7) and a flat finish for a smooth, velvety look in this immersive home theater design. Photos by KK Dream.

“Designed environments that trigger the senses create experiential design,” says J. Randall Tarasuk, vice president and designer at Pavarini Design. And while sight and touch are two senses we often focus on when discussing good design, the principles of sensory design implore us to consider the full complexity of human perception. We perceive the world through so much more than those two inputs, and designers must consider how more nuanced or nonvisual solutions might impact the experience of a space.

Designers can create meaningful moments through sensory focal points or anchors, or harnessing the senses to draw attention in positive directions that support the goals our designs and our clients hope to achieve.

When we design for a multi-sensory result, we encompass all the ways human beings experience our surroundings and can create spaces that contribute to feelings of happiness and calm. Zimmerman’s motto and guiding purpose is “Creating a world you’ll love to live in!” and to do that, she believes in becoming “intertwined with how our clients live, then translating their lifestyle and daily routines into what they see, feel, touch, smell, and hear.”

With the rise of timeless trends like dopamine decor and an increased emphasis on designing with elements that bring joy, there are countless nuances to explore within the sense of sight as applied to interior design.

For Stephanie Handley of Studio 36 Design, a biophilic focus inspires her to provide an unobstructed line of sight to the outdoors wherever possible. “Purposely keeping furnishings and light fixtures low in profile and clean in scale allows natural light and outdoor views throughout,” she says. 

Exposure to natural light affects circadian rhythms and serotonin levels, which in turn influence our mood, energy, and cell regeneration. By removing obstacles between rooms, replacing solid partitions with transparent alternatives, incorporating skylights or mirrors, and selecting light and luminous colors and materials, natural light can spread more widely throughout a room.

The many sensory benefits of light and color have been well documented, and Pavarini Design’s recent work for the Ronald McDonald House of Hudson Valley is a brilliant example of integrating chromotherapy through a healing lighting system with a colorful and whimsical design concept.

“The healing process is multi-faceted,” says Tarasuk. “It’s my belief that the selective use of color and light in interior environments influences the body mentally, spiritually, and emotionally to promote a curative mindset and wellness from within.” The healing room at the Ronald McDonald House features a saturated color palette that takes guests on a journey, allowing a positive redirection of focus and energy on wellness and healing.

Hand-painted sun faces grace the headboards of custom beds lined with color-changing LED lighting so that guests can enjoy a calming chromotherapeutic experience. Tarasuk explains that, by utilizing a wall controller, the room can render any shade of color, bathing its guests in colored light for the benefit of improved wellness.

Touch or tactile stimulation is an essential way of experiencing an environment, whether walking barefoot on floors, immersing oneself in a bath, or participating in hands-on activities and hobbies. Organic textures and materials stimulate our sense of touch like the natural world does, strengthening our relationship to the space and even reducing stress. 

“Embracing the sense of touch, [Pavarini Design’s] materials schemes are diverse and balanced with the use of smooth and textured elements for visual appeal and greater dimension,” says Tarasuk. 

To mimic the feel of a luxury spa in a Franklin, Tennessee, primary bathroom retreat, Scott Hilla, senior project manager at Carriage House Custom Homes & Interiors, considered a different aspect of touch: temperature and the sensory benefits of steam and heat. “An electric towel warmer was utilized to provide warm, cozy towels after a shower, steam, or sauna,” he says. The size and dimensions of the steam shower were carefully considered for both spatial comfort and visual appeal.

The sense of touch can also take on more ephemeral qualities, like how a space can establish a mood or resemble the environment that inspired it. For the basement bar area designed by RSZ Design + Development, the vibe of a classic European pub was married with a mix of wood, glass, antique mirrors, exposed brick and iron to create a space that “exudes an upscale vintage yet charmingly trendy feel.”

For the sense of hearing, sensory-focused design dictates that both the addition of sound (think music selection or soundscapes in public places, white noise generators, and the quality of sound systems) should be considered just as carefully as the reduction or elimination of noise.

For the designers at Pavarani Design, music selection is critical. “Appropriate music sets the mood of a space,” says Tarasuk. “Music of all kinds can influence the mood and elicit a response. Often beats do a great job of stimulating, while soft violin or piano music can truly relax the spirit.”

On the other hand, minimizing unwanted sounds is also necessary. Hard floors and surfaces in open spaces create greater noise transfer and pronounced echoes. In urban areas or other places with high noise pollution, proper insulation and sound absorption is key, especially when considering the particularities of older buildings, multi-family housing, and the type and thickness of the glass used in windows overlooking busy streets, to reduce decibel levels and restore peace in interiors.

When considering the sense of taste, the design of the environment can encourage wholesome cooking habits and healthier living, or cater to the ways that occupants prefer to prepare and share food. Think of cooking and dining spaces as pleasant and bright, a place people will want to linger, with plenty of working space for an individual, a couple, or the whole family. 

And though we may not literally taste our designs, this sense is so closely linked to another that it can still play a role. Zimmerman points out that, “Taste, although a sense triggered primarily in culinary experiences, can be activated through the sense of smell and therefore evoke the same emotions.”

For her client’s basement barroom, the theme was “Let’s have fun; pass the cocktail!” She says that the sense of taste was a necessary consideration to achieve the final design, “and with clients who enjoy a great vodka, savory snacks, and a good soccer match, creating a bar that would lend itself to the flavors of the festivities was key.”

For the nearby hookah lounge, Zimmerman explains, the design needed to celebrate this innate part of the client’s heritage and culture, a tradition that suffuses the senses with rich aromas and flavors. “However,” the designer says, “it was imperative that we create an escape for the smells and vapors by installing several can fans in the area that worked as extractors to keep the space feeling clean and fresh.”

“A soothing aroma instantly sets you at ease when entering a space,” says Tarasuk. “It immediately affects the mind and induces a sensation of calmness.” Studies have shown that air quality is exceptionally important for well-being and restfulness, and this keen sense can be woven into designs in myriad ways. 

Similar to the sense of hearing, the sense of smell can be considered through the addition of certain environmental elements—like a signature scent in a hotel lobby, a candle or oil diffuser in the home, or fresh cut flowers—or the subtraction of them, through air purifying systems, low-VOC products, and proper ventilation. 

Sensory and experiential design is something of an artform, with endless paths to explore and make yours in future projects. It comes down to caring deeply about what speaks to our clients, as all good design does, and in thinking outside the box to find elements, textures, colors, fragrances, and more to create a positive and powerful one-of-a-kind experience.

Top image: Designed by Kellie Sirna using Moscow Midnight SW 9142 (221-C7). Photo by Tim Williams.