CONCEPT BOARDS
Freelance Designer - Nous Design, London
Task: Concept design, FF&E, Coloured plans / elevations
Brief - to design an interactive, sensory guest experience.
Situated in the Galilee Mountains north west of the Sea of Galilee we were tasked with developing an experiential design concept that centred around the senses to create a unique experience to the Spa and Hotel Guests throughout all areas.
THE SPA
The spa experience is all about the experential journey, from start to finish. Toning down the dependency on sight and enhancing the other senses with a unique experience along each independant corridor to the selected treatment. The idea being that the treatment begins as soon as you arrive and not just about the final product. This is created by setting the mood with touch, sound, smell and taste on the journey through these areas.
THE TREATMENT ROOMS
Water
Womb
Earth
SPA CAFE / RESTAURANT
"The Awakening"
This is designed to reawaken the guests senses after their treatments. To allow them to slowly re-engage and balance with their senses. Implementing soft calming colours and textures so as not to shock or confuse. The transition should be smooth and calm to fully embellish the effects of the treatments.
For example - Soft lighting along corridors that might increase as the guest walk through from their treatments or added texture that will waken their sense of sight and touch.
GALLERY OF FOOD
Daytime - Huge screens hang around the periphery that display ever changing artwork to stimulate the senses and enhance the dining experience. They become part of the performance.
At night these would be used to project night skies or other scenes to play with the senses.
Furniture is of ‘sophisticated simplicity’ so as not to overwhelm the artistic performances throughout the day.
Staff uniform to be young and experimental, to become part of the performance.
NIGHT
Playing with video projections, colour, texture and sound to de-sensitise the sense of sight and encourage the guests to go on a journey of enhancing their other senses to create a unique experience.
For example
- Projecting images onto food and sounds can distort our sense of taste.
- The creation of food will become a form of performance art that the guest can experience and also take part in.
We aim to create a food multisensory experience that would be innovative, unique, luxurious, and intriguing. This allure can create an attraction, a treasured memory, a story to talk about and a reason to book the hotel.
The story would be performed using different arts and theatre methods such as: acting, sound effects, costumes, stage design, video projection, arts performances, and more.
THE PERFORMANCE
GUEST CORRIDORS
To deliver an experiential journey to bed for the guest by deactivating their senses at the end of the evening.
The journey would include touch and motion sensitive lighting along corridors that lead the guest back to their rooms and their evening rituals.
LIFTS
This clever engineering continues in the lift cars and lobbies that gives the guest a unique experience.
GUESTROOMS
Bedtime Rituals.
The guest is given a custom ritual to wind down at the end of the day and to continue the deactivation of their senses. In the form of tonics, video projection and sound.
The Guestroom needs to be a contemporary, neutral space with little or no stimuli that can reactivate the senses at the end of the day.
Beautiful built in wardrobes and cupboards are constructed, where everything has a home, so the rooms are clutter free. From mobile phones and computers to toiletries and personal items, all must have a special allocated place to be tucked away.
The beds are placed at an angle that draws the eye into the room. Back-lit soft lighting helping to shut down the senses and create a relaxed environment for the guest.
The rooms are programmed with the guests custom ritual that will display videos on the wall and ceiling, possibly motion operated, leading the guest through their winding down ritual and creating a calm and tranquil space for them to ‘float off into their ‘dreamworlds’.
Morning rituals will be taken into careful consideration, with details such as the use of a sunrise clock that gently lights up as the sun rises. Natural sounds of nature waking such as bird song could also be programmed into the guests morning ritual.
As well as technical aspects of the morning ritual the guest will feel energised and revitalised as they wake by the accent shades of yellow in the otherwise neutral bedroom.
Sunrise projections on the walls and ceiling also encouraging a calming awakening. Preparing the guest for their day ahead and maintaining a calmness during their stay.
In the evening, as the guest winds down, they could experience images of the night sky being projected on the ceiling and wall opposite the bed, which will enhance and relax the senses for a perfect night sleep.
