Designing for the Senses: An Introduction to Sensory Architecture
Architecture is often judged by how it looks—on Instagram, in renders, on a glossy sheet of plans. But buildings are not experienced in still images. They are walked through. They are touched, heard, smelled, even tasted. They whisper and echo. They warm us, cool us, awaken us—or fail to. A space that merely looks good is not enough. To feel truly alive, architecture must be designed not just for the eye, but for the whole body.
This is the heart of sensory architecture.
At Daedal, we believe that good design is not about spectacle—it’s about experience. The kind of architecture we champion is emotional, human-centred, and alive. It’s shaped by the wind as much as the walls. By sunlight and scent as much as structure. We’ve explored these ideas through biophilic design, soulful architecture, and designing for wellbeing. But now, we’re going deeper.
This blog marks the start of a six-part series on sensory architecture: a slow, thoughtful unpacking of how buildings can respond to—and elevate—our senses. We’ll be exploring not just what the senses are, but how we can design with them in mind. And not in a purely functional way, but in ways that uplift, comfort, delight, and restore.
What is Sensory Architecture?
Sensory architecture recognises that our experience of a place is multi-sensory. We do not simply see a building—we move through it. We hear its echoes, feel its textures underfoot, notice the way light shifts across the walls, or how the smell of timber or earth lingers in the air. These sensory cues are not secondary—they are primary drivers of comfort, memory, and wellbeing.
Too many modern environments—especially public buildings, workplaces, and city infrastructure—have been designed in ways that overstimulate, underwhelm, or ignore the body altogether. The result? Spaces that feel sterile, stressful, or just plain forgettable.
Sensory architecture offers an alternative. It asks: What if buildings could soothe our nervous systems instead of straining them? What if a room could make you feel calm simply by the quality of its silence, or safe because of the way it smells?
Why This Matters
Our bodies are constantly interpreting the environment, even when we are not conscious of it. A bright fluorescent hallway might increase our heart rate. A soft wooden handrail might ground us. A subtle scent could transport us back to childhood.
By designing for the senses, we are not just making spaces more comfortable—we are creating environments that feel emotionally resonant. In schools, this can improve focus. In healthcare, it can reduce anxiety. In homes, it can build warmth, connection, and joy.
More than that, sensory design is inherently inclusive. It supports neurodivergent users, children, the elderly—anyone whose nervous systems respond differently. It is not about indulgence; it is about empathy.
What to Expect from the Series
Over the coming weeks, we will be publishing a dedicated post on each of the five classical senses—touch, sound, sight, smell, and taste—plus a final sixth post on proprioception and the unspoken sense of presence[^1], which is often overlooked but vital in architecture.
Each entry will explore:
Why this sense matters in built environments
How it is commonly neglected—or overstimulated—in conventional design
What we can do differently, with real architectural strategies and materials
Examples from both our own work and others we admire
Here is the series outline:
Touch: The Texture of Experience
Exploring material honesty, hand-feel, temperature, and the comfort of the tactile.
Sound: Designing for Quiet and Resonance
How acoustics shape emotion—from calming silence to joyful echoes.
Sight: Beyond the Visual
The role of light, movement, contrast, and peripheral vision in how we feel in space.
Smell: The Forgotten Sense in Architecture
Memory, place, and the power of scent to trigger deep emotional responses.
Taste: Atmosphere You Can Almost Taste
How materiality, culture, and culinary adjacency create mouthfeel in architecture.
Presence: Space, Movement, and the Sixth Sense
How spatial awareness, rhythm, and intuitive flow make us feel at home in a building.
Final Thoughts: A New Measure of Success
Sensory design is not an indulgence. It is a call to recalibrate what we value in architecture.
For too long, buildings have been measured by metrics like floor area, efficiency, yield, or visual appeal. But what if success was defined not only by compliance or cost per square metre, but by how a space makes people feel?
What if the real questions became:
Does this space calm or energise?
Does it support focus, comfort, or healing?
Do people linger, return, or remember it with warmth?
These may sound subjective—but they are no less valid. In fact, they might be the only metrics that truly matter in the long term. And there are ways to gather them:
Through post-occupancy feedback
Through behavioural observation (Are people relaxed? Do they engage with the space?)
Through physiological cues (heart rate, stress markers, attention span) in research contexts
Even through something as simple—and powerful—as asking people how they feel
Designing for the senses is not about abandoning rigour. It is about expanding what we consider valuable. When we prioritise comfort, memory, and emotional wellbeing, we design places that feel alive. Places people return to—not because they must, but because they want to.
In this way, sensory architecture becomes not just a design philosophy, but a new standard.
Not how does it look?
But how does it live?
Not just what does it cost?
But what does it give?
We look forward to sharing this six-part exploration—and continuing the conversation about what truly makes architecture matter.
Michael Davies
Daedal Architecture
[^1]: Proprioception is the body’s sense of its own position, movement, and orientation in space. It allows you to know where your limbs are without looking and plays a vital role in how we navigate and feel in built environments.