Editor Hamish Kilburn welcomed sensory and wellness designer Wren Loucks onto the latest episode of DESIGN POD, the design podcast for all design and architecture enthusiasts. Kilburn writes…
When DESIGN POD, the design podcast for all design and architecture enthusiasts, dropped it’s latest series, sponsored by Geberit, our mission was to ‘cut through the noise’ in order to serve our listeners with thought-provoking topics and conversations that really mean something. By doing so, we met Wren Loucks, CEO and Creative Director of Be-Kin, an interior design studio that looks at the process of design holistically, using sensory design and adding elements that stimulate wellness to transform spaces with deeper design narratives.
The mark the launch of episode 29 of DESIGN POD, here are four reasons why you should give is a listen – perhaps even while reading this article (episode embedded below):
1) The power of design – it’s real!
In the episode, Loucks shares her own mental health journey. She honestly recalls the time when she was in hospitality as a child remembers her experience feeling clinical and cold. It was this moment when she started to question conventional approaches to interior design and wondered how, by using design as a tool, she could make spaces feel less clinical and more human-centric.
2) Wellness redefined in DESIGN POD and beyond!
Loucks, who was named last year as one of the top 25 influential interior designers, joined the podcast following her involvement in Geberit’s Hotel Guest Experience Report, in which the designer examines ritual, sensory-rich experiences and social sustainability in hotel design. The award-winning designer looks at how the differences in sensorial, cognitive, and physical abilities can be catered to by designing facilities to suit a range of needs, such as wheelchair accessibility, neurodiversity and an ageing population.
3) A new wellness-focused interior design studio is born!
Since launching Be-kin in November 2020, Loucks has completed six projects, ranging from Grade II listed buildings to a private gym in Fitzrovia. In addition to design, Loucks aims to educate her clients on how they are affected by spaces across their senses and create spaces that stimulate their wellbeing. For the studio’s commercial clients, the designer creates spaces that support social sustainability – designing for a range of cognitive, physical, and sensorial differences. She is, put simply, challenging conventional approaches to interior design, architecture and hospitality with an approach to interior design that puts humans first and gives the entire arena a deeper purpose.
4) Exhale – listen – think – do
Episode 29 of DESIGN POD will, if nothing else, inspire all designers of all abilities to open their mindset to new ideas and concepts. The industry, as a whole, is more open than ever before when it comes to collaboration, and sharing knowledge. Loucks is among a new breed of designers who are proving that science has its place in interior design – we can, as a whole, do better to create spaces that stimulate wellness.
The full 50-minute podcast episode, which follows episode 28, is available to listen to on all major podcast platforms – just search ‘DESIGN POD’ wherever you get your podcasts. The next episode will drop on April 12 with interior designer Pallavi Dean, Founder of Roar, who will join Kilburn to discuss design in the metaverse.
Main image credit: Be-Kin
