Creating a sensory space

Hi everyone, today I thought I would write about my experience of creating sensory spaces in specific relation to bathrooms. As humans, we depend on our five senses to guide us through the world and how we interact with it. We also use these senses to derive pleasure and improve our wellbeing. Being aware of and considering these senses when designing your home and spaces within it is vital, as it helps maximise the positive experience we take from these spaces. I will delve further into each of these senses, and how, I have found ways of improving the sensory experience when designing a bathroom, in collaboration with my favourite pieces from Geberit and some pretty fun surprises.

Sight
This seems obvious when talking about interior design as it is mainly thought of as a visual art. But our sight is so complex and has many different considerations from the perception to the interpretation of what is around us.  Our vision as humans is dependant on light and the quality and intensity of it changes how we see everything. Our eyes help us see colour and our bi-occular vision (two eyes) gives us 3D appreciation of a space. All of this is processed in our brain and this is why people can be seeing the same colour, and depending on their situation, light intensity and mood, they will describe it differently and have various emotional responses to it.
Keeping this in mind when designing a space really helps focus the thought on light and colour. What is the orientation of the room in relation to the sun? Where is the light source coming from? When will this room be used and for what purpose? Lots of light is generally thought of as a good thing, it wakes us up and energises us, so it's great when your room has large windows that flood the room with light. It is also important to consider appropriate task lighting, such as a mirror with a backlight (check out the video) or your worktop/space having good lighting.
Next consideration is mood lighting, so when creating an intimate or relaxing space choose a softer lighting mode. An ingenious mode of lighting for night time which keeps us in our natural circadian rhythms is navigation lighting, which is a very low glow from the objects that we want to use or need to interact with at night time to allow us to not disrupt your natural wake/sleep patterns. The Geberit orientation lights which can either be under the WC or incorporated into the flush plate emanate a soft glow that allow the body to not fully wake up when using the space at night time, and therefore allowing you to drift back off to sleep easily afterwards.

Touch
This is an incredibly intimate sensation and often not as highly valued initially when considering a space, but has such impact. Think of when you are in your favourite store, you want to touch everything you see - its emotive, its raw. Like how you know which jumper you are grabbing for in a bag full of stuff when you feel its material, our tactile sensation is very powerful and through it we determine a lot about our surroundings, which is why its imperative to consider this sensation when designing a bathroom. Incorporating different textures and finishes gives your bathroom personality and depth. Think of the smooth surface of glass, the slightly rougher texture of wood, the fluffy towels and the clean ceramics. The Geberit Aquaclean WC is quite frankly a work of art. You can get models whose lid lifts without having to touch it. The toilets come with an incorporated bidet, giving you a shower clean finish with every use. You can have your personal preferences memorised using the app on your phone. These can specify what water pressure you like, at what angle and what temperature you want it at! To really ramp up the luxury why not have a heated WC seat? I first experienced this calibre of WC when travelling in Japan and was gobsmacked at the luxury and level of hygiene I felt after using it and shocked at how most homes in Japan have one but this is still an emerging trend in Europe. Come on! We need to up our game!

Smell
Our sense of smell, despite not being honed to hunt, definitely evokes within us emotions and reactions that we can use to our advantage when designing a space. Think of that smell of freshly cut grass in spring, or the smell of mulled cider and bonfires in winter - these evocative smells bring back memories and transport us to a different place and time. Aromatherapy is a great way to relax and help improve balance, both physically and emotionally. It allows us to focus on the smell and a memory, creating moments of mindfulness and helping restore calm. When one thinks about the sense of smell in relation bathrooms, it can evoke a mixed reaction - but this shouldn't be the case. The smell of our favourite shampoos or face creams all form part of our daily routine and we buy these products based on how they perform and make us feel, including their perfume. So if we extended this concept further to the interior of the bathroom space, we can use scented candles or reed diffusers to creating a soothing space to be in and relax. Geberit have also thought of odour extraction within their WC systems. "WHAT?!" I hear you say, yes! Apparently so! There is a small extraction vent that removes any of the unpleasant odours from the air through a ceramic honeycomb filter. Insanely brilliant!

Sound
With all the hard surfaces in a bathroom, they can sometimes become an echoic chamber and that is the opposite of a relaxing sensory space. So to tackle this, I advise upping the soft textures as much as possible, be it with open shelves displaying beautiful towels, lovely woven floor rugs and even lush planting to soften the space and create a better acoustic space. The sound of flowing water when running a bath or having a shower is another relaxing sound that we are drawn to. We associate it with freshness and cleanliness and imagine ourselves being under a beautiful waterfall, bathing ourselves (you have the visual now I'm sure).  Maximising the positive sounds in a bathroom is great, so I always recommend playing some relaxing jazz or soul music when having a bath, it allows the mind to distract itself from our thoughts and just be in the moment, with the water and the music. Geberit have thought of this element too in reducing sound transmission from the waste pipes in your home and even the way the toilet flushes. They are real sticklers for the detail - they even have a sound lab in Switzerland! They use three unique ways to test sound. First is to have their entire flushing and drainage system on a pre-wall including having a wall hung toilet, this reduces the vibration and hence sound going through the walls of the house. Secondly they have silent drainage pipes, that dampen the sounds of the water going through them. Last but not least, their rimless Turboflush WCs have the most silent flushes I have EVER heard - or not heard... You get what I mean.

Taste
Now this sensation is probably the least stimulated in the bathroom of all rooms. But our taste buds are stimulated by the toothpaste and mouth cleaning products we use and even possibly the glass of wine we sip on slowly when having a bath. So despite not being the most obvious space that will stimulate our taste buds, remember its also something worth considering when developing the sensory space. 

[This is a paid partnership with Geberit. To find out more head to their website: https://inspiredbygeberit.co.uk/in-your-area/cheshire/]

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