Designing to a human scale
Large spaces can be awe inspiring but they can also lack a human touch and the feeling of warmth, comfort and connection that people desire. Different strategies and design techniques can make people feel at home in these spaces, like in this adapted Kenzo Tange building in Saudi Arabia
Designing to a human scale
Large internal spaces can be powerful and awe inspiring but they can also lack a human touch, a feeling of warmth and a connection.
It’s important to feel welcome and comfortable, especially in hotels. By focussing on tactile materials and layered lighting, by using dimensions and details that relate to the size of a human body and by introducing visual breaks we can create spaces where people can relax after a long journey.
Photograph: Approaching Shadow, by Fan Ho from Fan Ho - Forget Me Not .com
We were appointed to convert an office and residential building into a luxury hotel. The biggest challenge the building presented was to find ways people can feel at home in the main atrium space and feel connected to other people in the hotel. We needed to create a warm welcome in a space that currently prided itself on efficiency, privacy and separation of functions.
Existing Kenzo Tange office, conference centre, gym and residential building completed approx 1982. To be converted into a luxury hotel.
first impression
This is a powerful and bold building. Guests will have seen the image above from the road, the taxi will then arrive on the road to the right and the first impression people have when they walk through the door needs to be equally as strong as the one from outside.
We explored 2 different experiences. The first one is calm, private and full of promise. The second one is animated, more informal and inclusive.
The first option focussed on building suspense. As you walk in from the heat and the bright sunshine you detect the cooling air and low-level lights, they let you know you have arrived somewhere exclusive. The heavy textured plaster walls on each side are grazed with light and they focus your view ahead to reception. The space is calm but on either side there are glimpses into relaxing intimate lounges where you can socialise with drinks and lite bites.
The animation and brighter lights of reception ahead allows you to know instinctively where to go and as you get closer the whole space opens up in front of you to reveal a stunning arrivals desk and the impressive atrium volume. This approach is sophisticated with heavy, high quality materials providing a sense of arrival. The drama builds as you move through the space like the opening credits to a film, slowly preparing you for the main event.
In contrast, the second option brought liveliness to the forefront. This time, as you enter through the main doors you are greeted by a wide, bright comfortable lounge space with a refreshment display counter at the centre. We would loosen up the seating groups and this space would be animated with people, art and music.
Both perspectives by Illustrator Nigel Donovan
As your bags are taken by the bellboy you can collect a drink and rest for a while or continue straight ahead to reception in front of you.
We discussed abolishing reception pods in favour of mobile check-in greeters for this option but the more traditional guests who will frequent here prefer formal service. The main atrium space is slightly calmer with water features and smaller seating groups where people can talk privately.
Both options used different approaches to volume, space, light, privacy, and service style to create very different experiences.
Layout and navigation
When you arrive after a long journey, the navigation should be instinctive. You should know where reception is without having to read any signs.
Many layouts were tested to see what would meet operational needs, suit the building form and create the right emotional journey of the guest. A traditional guest may prefer formal zones for seating or dining away from reception. An adventurous guest might like to find hidden gems. A sociable guest might like to be in the limelight as much as possible and all of these impact the layout. Placement of screens and furniture within a large space can have a large impact on the ambience.
We explored fragmenting the space to make it more informal, blurring boundaries to encourage interaction and interspersing circulation routes with lounge areas to find solutions that work experientially and operationally. We traced guest journeys from the entrance via reception and up to the guestrooms and on to the restaurants, ballroom, gym, etc and we explored how staff could serve drinks and food discretely from the kitchen. Layouts are drawn in 2D but the space is always imagined in 3D. It’s imperative to understand the environment you need to create as the plans are developed, the plan and the atmosphere need to be developed together. As a result of these studies we suggested fairly significant architectural changes.
One of approx 12 layout sketches
It also became clear that the best location for reception was in the 25m high atrium, at the heart of the space. The hotel operator was clear about how they wanted the guests to be greeted, they wanted low desks that encourage the guests to sit while they check-in so we concentrated on creating more intimacy here through lighting, a warm backdrop and by floating a ceiling above.
This formal style of service was preferred by the operator so we needed desks rather than pods or IPads and we needed to provide a contemporary backdrop for attentive, impeccable service.
Atrium Space
The size of this space was the biggest challenge and it’s a large proportion of the public space. In order to make guests feel relaxed and welcome the atrium space needed large interventions as well as good placing of materials and furniture. The 3D models allowed us to test ideas. The existing space was impressive but inhospitable and the facade glazing resulted in imbalanced lighting, it was very bright at either end and very dark in the centre of the space.
Test: Opening up the space - By stripping out all the internal glazing and partitions at low level, opening up the balconies people can connect with each other and have clear lines of sight. The guestroom corridors were opened to the atrium and all the balcony facades were tapered to make them more engaging.
Test: Diffusing light and creating shadows - The lighting designer studied the light levels and explored using taut fabric sails to diffuse the natural light and to create shadows. Guests can easily relate to the shadows on the ground and feel like they are under a tree canopy
Test: Adding restaurant pavilions and key features - Not only do these animate the space with the activity of cooking and ordering food but also adding single story structures within the larger volume makes the scale of the space easier to comprehend and relate to. It provides a respite from the high spaces.
These tests allowed us to select the best direction for the design together. Now the planning approach and the large scale interior architecture had been explored it was time to create a final layout and spacial design then focus on the the details.
layering materials and lighting
Lighting is key when developing warmth and connection in a space, in such a large space it needed to be layered and considered and we worked closely with the lighting designers. By using films to filter the natural daylight as it comes into the building but also using ceiling louvres to filter interior lighting we could balance the space and make the building feel less weighty. Behind the decorative ceiling louvres we used colour changing lights to mimic the colour temperature of the natural light outside, they would provide a cooler white light in the morning and a warmer white light in the afternoon giving people the sense that real daylight was coming from above and creating shadows within the space. Next, by washing surfaces with warm light we could draw attention to particular surfaces, like behind the reception area, enticing people to gravitate toward the lit surface. Spotlighting was introduced as required to light navigation paths and to light key items then decorative lighting was added to create focus above the reception area and to provide intimacy in the form of table lamps and floor lamps.
Examples of filtered light, shadow, translucent materials, washing light on surfaces and feature lighting.
The operator wanted a calm, warm and refined space so the materials and lighting were carefully selected. Instead of making the whole space opulent we focussed attention on the materials you touch and see up close. People rarely appreciate materials until they get close to them so this approach made sense. We focussed on developing sophisticated screen details, door pulls and feature lights as seen below.
We also started to introduce planting on the corridor balconies and in the restaurant. All these decorative features relate to the size of a person and wouldn’t look out of place in a single story space. They make the space more intimate, feel luxurious to touch and show people care about the attention to detail which in turn make people feel valued.
The images below show how some of these techniques were applied. You can see a warm timber and decorative mesh feature wall washed with scalloped light behind reception to entice guests to come closer. This goes up to the underside of a 10m high bridge link we added to the guestroom floor above and creates a backdrop for the decorative pendant lights. We opened the guestroom balconies to the atrium and clad the underside of the balconies with acoustic timber panels, we washed the guestroom corridor ceiling planes with light to make them more intimate and by introducing this light wash at every level it made the building feel less heavy. We introduced new angled and stepped planes to conceal light fixtures and air conditioning grills. Most of the materials used here have warm tones and are tactile. Finishes like walnut, polished plaster, natural stone, metal resins and textiles add visual and physical comfort. Tinted mirrors reflect the animation of the other guests and slatted timber finishes reduce the scale of the space.
Image Credits: Gensler
Many surfaces have been pulled away from the structure and layered to create shadow gaps creating the illusion of light, free-standing protective pavilions within the larger space and in general. To build on this intimacy most of the lighting is below 2.4m high to focus guests eyes at a comfortable and relatable height and to highlight the texture of the materials. Only occasional spot lights are in the 5.5m high ceiling.
The result of using these techniques is a warm, inviting space where people can socialise. These can be applied to designs that have very different styling. It’s about considering scale, volumes, light, privacy, navigation and material application and many examples can be found in museums, art galleries, libraries, malls, airports and stadia as well as hotels.
One of the interesting challenges of developing this large space was the acoustics. A space can be designed to look inviting and intimate but if there is too much echo when you walk through or if it feels so quiet that you are wary of making noise the atmosphere is ruined. We worked closely with the acoustic engineers on this project. In the end we incorporated 2 water features, equally spaced, to provide pink noise and we specified an acoustic render for the upper balcony facades to reduce reverberation and we specified acoustic timber panelling for all the ceilings to make voices in the lounge areas more intelligible. We also needed to address heating and cooling, because we had removed the glazing on the balconies, the air conditioning strategy was made more complicated and because this was such a clean and simple building we wanted to avoid placing large air grills everywhere to rebalance the air flow. We worked closely with the mechanical engineers to incorporate recessed linear air grills air around the perimeter of the space at approx 4m high and to incorporate recessed linear supply and return air grills along the open corridors. Everyone worked together well to achieve a clean design.
Collaborators were Emma Williams, Graeme Davidson, Dan Craner, Marcel Ortmans, Jose Sirera, Nicola Law, Scott Farrar, Ieva Butkeviciute, Khue Tran, Maeve Larkin, Simone Schlueter, Armando Iarussi, Helen Sheldon, Peter Veale.
Atrium hotels referenced during concept: The Opposite House, Beijing, Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel, Westin Hotel, Xi’an and others.