Close
Expert
Minds
Close

Let’s talk

We work with ambitious clients who value clarity, experience and informed thinking. If you’re navigating a complex challenge or shaping what comes next, we’d love to explore how we can help.

General enquiries
+44 (0) 1753 792 999
info@hunter-design.co.uk

New Challenges
tom.rudge@hunter-design.co.uk

Recruit
recruit@hunter-design.co.uk

Find us here
128 High Street
Eton
SL4 6AR

Instagram Linkedin
Close
Close

The Invisible Architecture of Scent

Wim de Raaij - Founder, Nose and Partners

Insights from
Wim de Raaij - Founder, Nose and Partners

Scent is invisible, yet it shapes emotion, memory and how long people choose to stay.

When you speak with Wim de Raaij, it instantly becomes clear that scent is not an accessory. It is a structural material. A layer of architecture that cannot be seen but is always felt.

As the founder of Nose and Partners, Wim creates spatial perfumes for hotels, museums, retail brands and public buildings. But unlike the commercial fragrance market, his studio specialises in natural ingredients and in scents that behave like part of the environment itself. It is this philosophy that underpins our conversation: scent should never sit on top of a space. It should feel as though the space is breathing it.

If you walk into a Swiss chalet made of wood and smell strawberries, something is wrong. A space must smell like what it looks like.

 

The Space Must Breathe the Scent

Wim’s foundational principle is simple but transformative: scent must be congruent.

Humans, he explains, are hardwired to notice mismatch. If the interior is glossy, black-lacquered, masculine and club-like, a soft Japanese tea scent will feel wrong. If a room is minimalistic and cold, a warm, powdery fragrance can soften its edges. Everything must work together visually, acoustically and spatially.

He compares scent to seasoning. A dish is not defined by pepper, but pepper can make the flavours sing. The same is true of fragrance in rooms, lobbies or public spaces. On its own, it has little effect, but when aligned with design, lighting, sound and geometry, it creates an emotional coherence that changes the entire experience.

Scent is a signal sense. It should emphasise what the space already tells you.

Safety, Inspiration and the Lion’s Rock

Every expert in this series, from landscape architects to psychologists, has returned to the same baseline: people must feel safe. Wim agrees, but clarifies that scent is rarely the tool to engineer physical safety. That belongs to geometry, enclosure and sightlines. People take the corner booth in a restaurant not because of fragrance but because it lets them see danger coming.

Where scent does play, however, is in the next emotional tier: inspiration.

To dwell, people need comfort and curiosity.

If a space is too safe, it becomes boring. If it is too inspirational, people feel exposed. Scent helps tune that balance.

A bright citrus fragrance can energise. A woody, resinous base can ground. A powdery, soft scent can warm a sterile environment. All of these cues shape subtle psychological responses: alertness, calmness, ease of belonging.

Dwell Time: Consistency across the Senses

When asked directly how scent affects dwell time, Wim challenges the idea of isolating fragrance.

Dwell time increases, he says, when everything is consistent: the welcome, the lighting, the geometry, the acoustics and the scent. If any one of these is wrong, people will feel subtle discomfort and leave sooner.

But if scent is natural, well balanced and congruent with the design:

• People relax faster.

• Their curiosity increases.

• They roam, browse and observe.

• They linger without realising why.

He notes that when brands introduce well-matched fragrances to their spaces, they typically see double or triple the number of guest compliments.

Not because the scent becomes the focus but because the overall experience becomes smoother, more memorable and more emotionally intelligible.

Natural Ingredients Change the Entire Perception

In an industry dominated by synthetic diffusion, Wim is unusual: he uses high proportions of natural extracts. It costs more and is technically complex, but the difference is significant.

With a synthetic scent, after a while, you want to escape. With natural ingredients, you can stay for hours. It does not annoy you. It breathes.

Visitors compliment scents made with naturals because they feel alive, familiar and safe – part of the environment, not an overlay.

He jokes that trapped with a cheap synthetic fragrance, you’d go mad within hours. Replace it with lemon, cedar or rosemary, and youcould breathe it endlessly.

Natural materials connect to memory, instinct and biophilic wiring – the deep evolutionary part of us that knows earth, wood and fire.

Scent, Memory and Emotion

There is a common belief that fragrance is unusually tied to memory. Wim confirms this but warns against the over-romanticisation of neuroscience in marketing. The real power, he says, comes from congruence and stimulus.

A visitor who compliments a scent is also someone who:

• Feels welcomed

• Feels the space aligns with their expectations

• Recognises a subtle emotional truth

This combination anchors a memory. The scent is not the memory; it is the trigger.

Outside Spaces: Can You Scent the Open Air?

When asked whether public squares can be fragranced, Wim says yes – but with scale and sensitivity.

Freshly cut grass, for example, can heighten the emotional experience of a courtyard surrounded by trees. A green, airy fragrance in a clean urban square can create a sense of freedom that encourages people to linger.

It must, once again, match the scene.

You did not propose strawberries. You proposed fresh grass. That means you already understand it.

Culture, Climate and Audience

Does fragrance strategy change by country? Wim’s answer is beautifully pragmatic:

Yes – and no.

Culture influences preference:

• Middle Eastern audiences gravitate to wood, leather, spice.

• Scandinavians prefer herbs and greens.

• Italians favour citrus.

• Asian markets prefer softer tea and cotton notes.

But the space itself is the ultimate brief.

A modern London penthouse still needs to smell like a modern London penthouse, even if it is being marketed to Gulf buyers. In those cases, Wim recommends dual-scent strategies: one fragrance for UK audiences, another for Middle Eastern events.

The key is respect: cultural resonance without compromising the architectural truth.

Start by Defining How the Place Should Feel

Most developers struggle to clearly define what they want a place to feel like. Broad terms such as “luxury” or “premium” are not enough. The real distinction lies in the detail, whether that luxury is bold and expressive or quiet and refined.

For Wim de Raaij, scent should never overpower or compete with a space. Instead, it should reinforce what is already there, enhancing the atmosphere in the same way lighting, sound and materiality do. The fragrance should feel as though the space itself is breathing it.

He is also clear that quality matters. Natural ingredients create depth, softness and familiarity in a way synthetic fragrances often cannot. While scent may seem like a subtle detail, Wim believes it can fundamentally shape how people respond to a place and whether they feel comfortable enough to stay.

Define what you want people to feel first.

Final Thoughts

Three Key Takeaways

 

1. Scent must match the space

Fragrance should behave like part of the architecture. If it does not feel like the room itself is breathing it, it will break immersion and shorten dwell time.

 

2. Use natural ingredients for deeper emotional impact

Naturals create comfort, memorability and longevity. They can significantly increase guest compliments and allow people to stay with a scent without irritation.

 

3. Define the feeling first

Before designing fragrance, developers must articulate the exact emotional atmosphere they want to create. Safety, inspiration, luxury, calmness – scent can amplify any of these, but only when the brief is precise.

 

To receive a copy of the Making Sense of Place report click here

Related reports

Making Sense of Place

The Rhythm of Place
The Rhythm of Place

Insights, Leadership, Strategic Services

The Joy Brief: Why Our Cities Need to Feel Good Again
The Joy Brief: Why Our Cities Need to Feel Good Again