THINKTANK ™

Designing for
the Senses
By Greg Scruggs

The hospitality industry faces a conundrum.

Whereas in the past travelers may have
been satisfied with vacation packages and
preset itineraries, today’s jet-setters expect
personalized experiences no matter where
they go. Hoteliers are left with the chal-
lenge of providing something for every-
one, while also beefing up their facilities’
wellness credentials.
The art of balancing different, some-
times-competing desires took center
stage at the offices of Olson Kundig in
Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood,
where Metropolis editor in chief Avinash
Rajagopal moderated a discussion on
design for the senses in May. Rajagopal
acknowledged a basic first principle for
the industry—“Hospitality spaces should
be designed for pleasure”—asking the pan-
elists how this obtains in a new context
of wellness and experience-based travel.
For Barbara Erwine, author of Creat-
ing Sensory Spaces: The Architecture of
the Invisible, the biggest challenge is not
letting the intuitive nature of design yield
too much to the exacting standards of
engineering, which all too often fail to ac-
count for individual difference (see, for Above: Visitors tour Olson
example, the scourge of universal temper- Kundig’s Seattle office.
Left: The panelists were
ature settings). “The design of the sensory (from left to right) Kevin
realm,” Erwine stressed, “falls between Kudo-King, principal and
those two disciplines.” owner, Olson Kundig;
COURTESY MIKEL AMIAS/OLSON KUNDIG

Heather Burpee, research

While Kevin Kudo-King, a principal and associate professor, Uni-
owner at Olson Kundig, acknowledged the versity of Washington’s
intuitive nature of his firm’s practice, he also Integrated Design Lab;
Barbara Erwine, sustain-
emphasized the need for design intentional- ability consultant, edu-
ity. “It doesn’t have to be extravagant—it can cator, and writer; and
be just having that window in the right place Judith Heerwagen, affili-
ate associate professor,
when you walk into a room to frame a great University of Washington’s
view,” he said. The firm’s design for the architecture department.

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 THINKTANK ™

JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort &

Spa, where breezy corridors terminate in
dramatic vistas of the Pacific Ocean, hangs
on these kinds of carefully calibrated moves.
The resort is also innovative in its
back-of-house philosophy, ensuring natural
light in break rooms and other amenities to
make the workday experience more pleas-
ant for the staff. Creating a truly hospit-
able atmosphere must take into account
the needs of both staff and guests, argued
Heather Burpee, a research associate
professor at the University of Washington’s
Integrated Design Lab. “The folks that
help around the resort spend the most

time in these spaces, and they will work

there for a long time if the spaces they work
in are high quality,” she explained.
While the visual sense predominates
in most design circles, the hospitality in-
dustry has cultivated other sensory experi-
ences toward building brand loyalty, Erwine
observed: “Many hotels have a branded
scent they use within their establishment,
and if they send you a mailer afterwards,
it will be scented to reignite your memory.”
Interior designers, she suggested, can har-
ness sensory experiences from haptics
to acoustics to foster a unique and mem-
orable experience for guests.

TOP TO BOTTOM: COURTESY BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER; COURTESY TIM BIES/OLSON KUNDIG

Panelists also reminisced about their
own travels—from the layered sensory ex-
perience of hot and cold, light and dark,
big and small at Peter Zumthor’s thermal
baths in Vals, to the distinctive door han-
dles on Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Haut
in Ronchamp, and the late-summer quiet
after the crowds abate at the Many Glacier
Hotel in Montana.
These touchstones are both a fount
At the JW Marriott of inspiration and an uphill battle for de-
Los Cabos Beach Resort
& Spa (above), designed signers hoping to answer the elemental
by Olson Kundig, land- question posed by Kudo-King: “How can
scape elements inten- we create spaces that are transformative
tionally frame views of
the Pacific. The firm’s and truly special?”
design for Outpost (right),
a residence in Bellevue, The Think Tank discussions were held on
Idaho, takes a similar May 8 and 9, 2019, in Seattle. The con-
approach to the sur- versations were presented in partnership
rounding landscape. with DXV/GROHE, Sunbrella, and Teknion.

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