Hospitality Design and the Human Experience

Architecture with purpose, takes into consideration the needs of the individual from a variety of perspectives including location, views, lighting, temperature, comfort and much more. Design plays a role in establishing how humans interact within a space. It also looks at the relationship of the individual to the whole of society. From the master plan to the minutia, the human experience must be central to all decisions made in any architectural or interior design endeavor. The field of design is taking this fundamental even further with “Experiential Design.”

What is Experiential Design?

“Experiential Design” is a concept increasing in priority for many sectors, including architecture, interior design, and the hospitality industry. It takes the very simple idea of storytelling and looks for ways to make a fully immersive or 4D level experience or interaction. Advances in technology have been the foundation on which this movement has been established. With elements such as digital screens and Virtual Reality growing more and more common, there is a new frontier for creating engagement within the spaces we design – especially in hospitality design.

Elements of the Experiential Design movement in common with hospitality values are “engagement” and “impact.” Engagement is both foundational to Experiential Design and the success of a hospitality brand. Impact is all about leaving a lasting impression; one that will bring about priceless word of mouth marketing. Your marketing team will be thrilled with your architectural team when they are thinking about ways to create a design that holds these values in mind.

How to Engage and Impact

Every experience is individual and understood through the biology of our bodies. Using our 5-senses we are able to create an experience that leaves us with a tangible feeling and perception of the world around us. What we see, what we touch, what we smell, what we hear all are powerful tools that stimulate and challenge us to engage and experience the world around us. At one level, architects/designers inherently take these into consideration. However, it is the new tools and techniques of video installations, interactive elements, varied media formats, and even holographic installations that are taking design to the next level.

Society is approaching a new era, where they want to get out, have an experience, an escape. People want to be stimulated again, to get back to nature and out into the world. Aesthetic experiences are essential and paramount in the human experience. The power of aesthetic psychology and experiential design to create a relationship between your brand and customer are essential tools in planning your project.

Related: Design Trends 2024: What is Trending and What is Staying?

Storytelling

A customer’s experience is paramount in creating your bottom line and defining your brand. What your customer experiences from the moment they walk into your front door defines their relationship with you. The experience you create for your customer creates the narrative for your brand and how your customer interacts with you and your product. Evoking their senses creates a relationship, an intimacy, between you and your customer, that has unlimited opportunities in customer loyalty and brand identity. Creating a personal connection with your customer through architecture and design creates the opportunity to curate an expected reaction that defines how one interacts in your space.
What is the Story You Want to Tell?

The tools you have to create a stimulating and aesthetic space is by evoking your guests senses. What is the objective and goal of your business and how can you deliver that through design? If you are building a spa, what is the vibe you want your clients to take away from their experience? Is it calming? Decompressing? Healing? Is it Electric? High energy? Do they enter the room and immediately hear the trickling of water from a Biophilic designed wall fountain, with fresh air stimulated by natural plants, is the room dark? Light? Are they welcomed with a blanket and eye mask and told to rest in a room filled with the smell of lavender? The question becomes, what is the story you are narrating as a brand and customer experience through your design?

Architects and designers have the privilege and opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives by designing spaces that stimulate and inspire. Through the guest experience, designers use history, science and art to build something meaningful & beautiful that is both intimate and inspiring.

Margit E. Whitlock is Principal and Creative Director for Architecture and Interior Design at Architectural Concepts Inc., a San Diego, CA based Architectural and Interior Design Firm specializing in hospitality design. She is an accomplished speaker and frequently published in magazines such as Developments, Resort Trades, Hotel Business, Hiatus, Vacation Industry Review and Resort Management and Operations. You can reach Margit here: Margit@4designs.com / www.4designs.com