sensory design approach journal

The Approach

Motivated by the ambition to understand the inhabitant perspective, and respond to their human needs and desires through the design of the Caring Home interior. Considering how to create the opportunity for a fulfilling life by encouraging, but not imposing, the multi-sensorial experience.

Forming a spatial approach centred around compassion, the Caring Home utilises design as a means of improving the well-being of inhabitants. Enabling a multistimulatory environment will ensure a rounded experience of space, particularly for those with sensory impairments.

The elderly spend around 80-90% of their time within the interior, heightening the need for accessible stimulation to be embedded in the everyday spatial experience. Drawing upon nature as a source of energy and healing, a holistic application of design solutions sensitive to human sensory needs will contribute to de-institutionalising the contemporary care home.

“Soul, practicality and safety are in no way incompatible. Indeed, as disability restricts mobility, soul-nourishing surroundings are even more important”1

1. Author: Day, Christopher, Places of the Soul Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (New York: Routledge, Third Edition, 2014)

Keywords/ Dualities

Navigating dualities of light, sound, smell, temperature, indoor and outdoor, the Caring Home aims to accommodate the human need for fluctuations in sensory stimulation. Connections to the natural environment aid in the formation of an energising interior.

Sensory design approach focuses;

- Protection/Exposure

- Energy/Calm

Multi-Sensory experiences;

- Sound

- Light/Dark

- Tactility

- Smell

- Taste

- Temperature

- Sight

Nature;

- Water

- Flora and Fauna

- Air - Sky

Time;

- Seasons

- Weather

Relationships with the historic structures;

- Old/New

- Past/Present/Future

Additional applications of the sensory design approach;

- Activities

- Layout/arrangement of activities

- Light

- Materiality

Tensions/Care Home

Symptomatic of the “normalisedsensory deprivation”2 within Western society, the existing institutional care home interior symbolises societal attitudes towards aging.

Spatial associations of the contemporary care home;

- Stale air

- Clinical, oppressive atmosphere

- Synthetic lighting, colour and material palettes

Such design schemes isolate people from sensory stimulation and connections to the natural world, detrimental at a time when they are often increasingly confined to the interior, and experiencing the anxieties of moving home.

2. Norm Architects, Soft Minimal: A Sensory Approach to Architecture and Design (Berlin: Gestalten, 2022)

The impact of design upon morale and health is stated by Daniel Ibbotson, a cancer patient who describes his perspective upon the utilitarian NHS environment,

“Everything you can see and touch is there to keep you alive, not to help you live”3.

The vitality of spatial surroundings in fulfilling human wants and needs for life-giving surroundings during ill-health is highlighted.

An understanding of the spatial problems and anxieties related to the existing care home aids in applying solutions to deinstitutionalise the interior.

3. Ibbotson, Daniel, ‘Stayin’ Alive’, Graphical House, March 2022

Applying the Approach

Sensory Overload

“There is only so much energy one can expend in a day, and every single thing we see, touch, smell or hear takes a little energy from us”4

Autonomous levels of sensory stimulation is vital in the creation of an enjoyable atmosphere. Sensitivity towards the differing wants and needs of individuals requires the customisation of stimulants, avoiding environmental over-load.

Navigating the need for reduced stimulation allows inhabitants a sense of control over their environment.

Retreat from communal areas is provided in the quiet solitude of the Sanctuary, and in the privacy of each apartment, where they can relax or invite loved ones into their home. The control of lighting, sound, temperature levels can be adjusted by residents.

4. Norm Architects, Soft Minimal: A Sensory Approach to Architecture and Design (Berlin: Gestalten, 2022)

Natural Rhythms

“If sensory qualities, however appropriate, are to bring joy and refreshment to the soul, we need variety - not endlessly the same correct temperature, lighting level, same view, the same sort of shapes, space or movement through space.”5

Drawing upon surrounding nature; changing flora, fauna, light, weather, water and seasons connect elderly inhabitants to life and energy. At the heart of Pollok Country Park, along the banks of the White Cart Water, the Caring Home is embedded in the natural rhythms through its relationship between interior and exterior.

Natural rhythms focus;

- Connecting to and reflecting natural surroundings;

Limited materiality palette

Natural lighting

Views and perspectives

- Aid orientation in time, particularly for those with dementia

5. Author: Day, Christopher, Places of the Soul Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (Oxford: Architectural Press, Second Edition, 2004)

October November March

Site observations

A natural view from the bedroom is a vital source of stimulation, particularly for those who may be bed bound. Layering the ability to open their windows to smell fresh air and feel breeze, experiencing the change of light and weather, creates a sense of being involved in the outside world.

Sensory involvement in the changes of seasons, weather and light aid inhabitants orientation in time. This will provide reassurance, particularly for those with memory loss.

A limited warm materiality palette emphasises focus upon form, light and the sensory experience of space.

The colour scheme of the Caring Home relates to the surrounding landscape, inviting people to look outwards. Evolving changes in colour forms varying contrast and harmonies throughout the year.

Selection of amber toned tiles within the Water Therapy Spa was inspired by the autumnal brown shades of the White Cart Water.

Connection to the rhythms of the natural world embraces the passage of time, symbolically opposing societal anxieties of aging. Animated by seasonal sunlight and the irregularities of natural materials, the caring home implies a less fearful approach to aging.

“To work with natural light is to work with time and to welcome the minute shifts occurring constantly throughout the day“6

Catching the best sunlight, the Complex largely faces South. The proposal focuses upon providing elderly residents with the health and well-being benefits of access to natural lighting.

Lighting focuses;

- Sunlight across the Complex; Orientation of the Residence extension

- Soft indirect lighting;

Up-lit wooden roof beams

Warm brass lamps

6. Norm Architects, Soft Minimal: A Sensory Approach to Architecture and Design (Berlin: Gestalten, 2022)

The Residence extension is offset to orientate towards the South, designed to allow inhabitants to move with the sun or shade, across ground and elevated perspectives. Areas of exposure and protection from the sun enable residents to enjoy the changing light across days and seasons, regardless of weather.

“In the morning, the warm rays emerge from one side and slowly make their way across the space throughout the daybringing life and energy indoors - before fading into dusk”7

Retaining the open views across the historic courtyard, the intervention manages needs for accessible indoor/outdoor space and circulation, giving the maximum amount of sunlight into the existing buildings.

7. Ibid.

Resident apartments have access to natural light through original sash windows. The bedrooms have been placed to maximise the number of dual aspect views,

“windows on two sides give two view directions instead of one, so it’s easier to orientate yourself: windows on three sides show the sun’s rotation, so orient us in time as well as space.”8

8. Author: Day, Christopher, Places of the Soul Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (Oxford: Architectural Press, Second Edition, 2004)

Dark

Contrast in lighting level and materiality tone ensures the Complex stimulates the senses in a range of ways.

The experience of immersion is fundamental to the Water Therapy Spa. Dimly up-lit beams highlight the undulating roof structure.

Rich black charred timber lines the walls, focusing the drama of the dark transition between the changing area and the pool. Aiding to emphasise the separation of the Spa within the Complex, as a place of relaxation and healing through tactile and sensory connections to water.

“In shadowy spaces, vision finally takes a back seat. Touch, hearing and smell gain heightened sensitivity and our subconscious, unburdened by excessive visual stimuli, can roam. ... Physically, a dimly lit corner envelops our body and secludes us from the world, encouraging a safe and private mindset.”9

9. Norm Architects, Soft Minimal: A Sensory Approach to Architecture and Design (Berlin: Gestalten,

2022)

Weir cascades, March

Water

At the meeting point of the White Cart Water, its weir, and lade, the Caring Home is permeated by the health-giving sensory properties of water.

Connecting inhabitants to these natural features, across a range of perspectives, as an energising facet of everyday routine, brings a sense of reassurance and life to the Complex.

Water focuses;

- Sensory properties of water to improve well-being

- Connecting people to the waterways

- Varying perspectives on the water

In the Water Therapy Spa, people follow the path of the lade as it flows below, transitioning from the reception to the changing area towards the pool and steam room.

The rising and lowering flow of the White Cart Water alters the visibility of the river bed and the power of the weirs cascade.

Such changes in water level relate to the graduation of depths within the Spa. Sinking the floor to below ground-level creates a visual connection from the pool towards the river. Swimmers face with the flow of water as it travels West. The slow decline of the ramp connects people to the adjacent descent of the river. The pool is deepest at the buildings lowest point. The river and lade meet underneath.

An elevated perspective on the river is created by the Sanctuary viewpoint, views down the river and across to the greenery of the opposite bank give inhabitants calm and protection.

Across the Complex, windows may be opened to allow the sounds of flowing water into the interior.

The Water Therapy Spa utilises heat as a means of healing. The warmth of the pool aids in muscle relaxation and relieving joint pain, weekly hydrotherapy classes encourage routine exercise and the building of strength and confidence. Aiming to improve the mobility of residents, such activity aids individuals personal independence, and shared group activity provides opportunities to build relationships.

Humidity of the steam room aids inhabitants mental health through inducing feelings of calm. Increased circulation reduces tension and stress.

Such health-giving activities potentially reduce needs for medicines and nursing.

Immersion in the warm water of the pool forms contrast with the cold river as it flows outside and underneath. Each resident is enabled to control the temperature of their private apartment to suit personal preferences for comfort.

Temperature focuses;

- Control of private apartments by the resident

- Health benefits of the warm pool

- Health benefits of the humid steam room

Sound

“Dancing leaf shade patterns, lapping wavelets, gurgling streams, endlessly reforming clouds combine calming tempo with the security of a reliably constant world, but one constantly stimulating our senses to life”10

10. Author: Day, Christopher, Places of the Soul Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (Oxford: Architectural Press, Second Edition, 2004)

Life at the Complex is reaffirmed by the sounds of nature and human activity that permeate the buildings, bringing stimulation and feelings of reassurance to inhabitants.

Sound focuses;

- Connection to water; weir, river and lade

- Trees and plants

- Human life

The sensory connection of the Complex to its natural surroundings provides an ideal opportunity to connect the elderly to the outside world in an immediate and accessible way. Providing rich surroundings in which to live, the Caring Home is filled with the renewing sounds of flowing water;

- changing volumes as the river levels rise and lower

- cascade of the weir

- stream of the lade as it flows from the north of the park, joining with the White Cart underneath the Water Therapy Spa

Rustling trees and planting can be heard through open windows, changing through the seasons as leaves grow and drop.

The sounds of people inhabiting the courtyard is carried through the extension. Privacy and quiet can be found in the Sanctuary.

Public visitors to the Community Cafe and Garden can be heard, bringing together the sounds of a range of multi-generational people and families.

QR Code to YouTube Video of audio recording taken on a site visit in March. These sounds were heard beside the lade, in the proposed Community Garden.

Sky

A unique dynamic with the sky is formed by the lowering of the floor to below ground-level in the Water Therapy Spa. Dramatising the height of existing windows in relation to eye-level invites people to look upwards towards the sky, clouds and rain.

Spanning the width of the pool, a glass panel intervention pushes views out at eye-level, through the pool and down the river.

Opportunities to look upwards towards the sky, changing light and weathers enrich the inhabitant experience of the Complex.

Sky focuses;

- Dynamic of looking towards the sky in the Water Therapy Spa

- Open views upwards from the courtyard

- Changing moods of the sky impacting the tone of the interior

“Sky – its space and quiet clouds – is a healer everywhere available”11

11. Author: Day, Christopher, Places of the Soul Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (Oxford: Architectural Press, Second Edition, 2004)

Air

“Buildings can be seen as the third human skin (skin is the first, clothing the second). Skin performs many functions: it breathes, absorbs, evaporates and regulates as well as enclosing and protecting. A building which, through its fabrics is in a constant state of moderated exchange between inside and outside feelsand is - a healthy place to be in. It has a quality of life.”12

12. Author: Day, Christopher, Places of the Soul Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (Oxford: Architectural Press, Second Edition, 2004)

The Caring Home Complex is designed to be permeable, allowing inhabitants to access the flow of fresh air, a key facet of improving wellbeing and outlook.

The varying stimulation of natural ventilation adds life to the interior,

“Natural air ... carries scents and sounds of season, weather, time of day and activities going on.”13

13. Ibid.

Air focuses;

- Breathing fresh air

- Feeling breeze

- Opening and closing windows

- Opening and closing of the extension sliding windows

Smell

Smell is intimately tied to memory, the processing of aromatic stimulants occurs mostly in regions of the brain associated with emotions15. Evocative of time and place16, through smell we identify ourselves, others, and objects.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

Utilising the sense of smell within the Complex aids in creating a rich and stimulating atmosphere. This is vital in prompting comforting memories and associations for residents, particularly for those with dementia.

Smell focuses;

- Natural surroundings; vegetation, river and weather

- Placement of kitchens within apartments, communal residential areas and Community Cafe to involve inhabitants in the sensory aspects of cooking

“The strongest memory of a space is often its odor .... A particular smell may make us secretly re-enter a space that has been completely erased from the retinal memory; the nostrils project a forgotten image and we are enticed to enter a vivid daydream”14

14. Malnar, Joy Monice, and Vodvarka, Frank, Sensory design (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004).

Breathing in the natural surroundings will bring inhabitants healthy relaxation. Scents of the environments trees, plants and waterways are heightened by rain and the mist of the weir.

Three of six apartments include private kitchens, arranged to allow the aromas of home cooking to fill the flat if desired. Such familiar smells may bring comfort, particularly to those who are bed bound, reminiscing feelings of continuity and the normality of home.

Taste

The blending of front and back of house within the Community Cafe allows the sharing of skills and knowledge around food within the central kitchen. Multi-generational inhabitants are invited to cook and eat together, monthly workshops encourage learning and teaching among residents and the wider public.

Connecting with the Walled Gardens allows the tasting of new and locally grown produce. Eating outdoors is encouraged through a range of seating across the Complex, allowing people to sit in the fresh air and enjoy meals with loved ones.

Taste focuses;

- Involving inhabitants in the sensory aspects of cooking and eating

- Variety of indoor/outdoor seating opportunities to eat

Threshold/Ruins

“Ageing is the process by which forms and materials are modified by the forces they are exposed to.

We can pretend ageing will never happen - or accommodate it, letting the passage of time mellow, rather than tarnish, our surroundings.”17

17. Author: Day, Christopher, Places of the Soul Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art (Oxford: Architectural Press, Second Edition, 2004)

The entrance threshold to the Residence courtyard reveals the historic structure, taken back to tactile hewn sandstone and wooden roof beams to form a semi-enclosed internal garden. Honesty in exposing the original construction symbolically states the acceptance of patina and a less fearful approach to aging.

Referencing the current gradual deconstruction of the buildings before their renovation, and the open fabric of roof beams that form geometric patterns depending upon perspective.

Creating a graduation between outdoor and indoor, the ruins aid in the transition between public space and the private Residence hallway.

…

"Aging beautifully with use, natural materials develop a patina that tells the story of days, years and decades of exposure to their environment - mirroring all they've experienced. We can take comfort from places and things with history, that tell us how old they are and what they know."18

18. Norm Architects, Soft Minimal: A Sensory Approach to Architecture and Design (Berlin: Gestalten, 2022)