Owning a restaurant, whether it is a small business or a large chain, is hard work. Owners have to think of the most effective and efficient ways to gain sales and boost business. Giving the customer a total sensory experience through a fresh, aesthetically pleasing design is one way to do just that.
As an architectural interior design firm, Sensory Six focuses on the strong belief that spaces should be in harmony with all our senses. While many restaurants place all of their focus on the food itself, customers want a dining affair that does more than just appeal to their taste buds.
They want an experience of escape, comfort and indulgence. Achieving this goes further than just great food and service.
Accomplishing a total sensory experience requires carefully selected elements such as lighting, texture, color and acoustics that complement the overall restaurant brand. These features can create a beautiful ambiance that stimulate the senses, giving guests more to remember than just the food.
Here are a few design ideas from The Creators Project that we also use in restaurant spaces to engage more than just a customer’s sense of taste.
For the Eyes- Color, Lighting and Shapes
Enticing a customer’s sense of sight is a key factor in achieving an appealing ambiance. Color pallets, lighting, and shapes that compliment one another will give your restaurant balance.
Guests react to colors in different ways. Choose colors that best reflect your restaurant brand and support your mission. Consider how the colors of wallpaper, paint, architectural pieces, and furniture fabrics can work together to influence the mood.
Use lighting to highlight shapes, colors, textures and focal points of your restaurant. When selecting lighting consider the type of food you serve, the wall colors, and the overall mood of your restaurant.
When thinking about shapes decide whether you want to use geometric shapes or sinuous shapes. Consider how these two forms can have completely different impacts on the overall impression and style of your restaurant. Too many contrasting shapes can make the room visually complex and hinder the atmosphere.
Lazaro Rosa Violan is a renowned artist and the founder of Contemporain Studio where he applies his special style signature to surpass his client’s expectations. He created the stunning atmosphere below. His delicate combination between modernity and sophistication is shown through subtle yet intense colors, vintage furniture and dark neutral tones.
Credit: LRV Studio
For the Ears- Appealing Acoustics
Finding the happy medium between a quieter, more focused environment and a lively room with a bespoke ambiance is ideal. Construct your restaurant using acoustic techniques that can stop voices from carrying so that each customer can focus in on their own conversations.
It is important to think of the mood you want your restaurant to portray. If you want to promote tranquility, use certain decor elements like indoor water fountains or soft music. The sound of trickling water can be very relaxing and a surround-sound system can create the perfect background noise.
For the Nose-Subtle Smells
Bringing certain smells into a designed space can immediately impact one’s mood. While the food being served will do most of the work here, incorporating other subtle smells can be comforting to customers. Customer’s will be more likely to return if the memory of their dining experience is paired with an appealing aroma. You can bring in specific scents by incorporating elements like essential oils, scented candles, fresh flowers or incense.
Credit: Paul Pairet
Ultraviolet, an immerse dining restaurant in Shanghai, is known for appealing to all senses of their customers. Ultraviolet uses a dry-scent diffusion system to appeal to customers’ sense of smell. The staff ensures that the meal goes exactly according to a specific plan, as each dish is synchronized with a particular smell, visual and sound.
For the Touch- Textures and Furniture
Textiles are very important. Don’t just consider how they look and whether they mesh with your design, think about how they actually feel too. Smooth leather, raised embroidery, and soft furniture fabrics are all choices that can evoke different feelings in your customers. Textures can warm up an environment and make it far more inviting.
Most of the world’s best restaurant designs include dynamic combinations of materials and styles to create a vibrant atmosphere that entices guests to return. Rather than simply appealing to your tastebuds, restaurants that tantalize all five senses will stand out among the rest. A great restaurant design is just as important as your menu items and the service you provide. A successful design can help to further evoke your restaurant’s personality.
Some of our favorite projects here at Sensory Six are ones that allow us to work with restaurant owners. Our 21st Century Zen design approach performs well in the restaurant industry because it’s aspects appeal to all five senses. We believe that creating a total sensory experience is the key ingredient in restaurant success.
