The great design challenge: MoreySmith

Sensorium is a destination for the senses, the arts and crafts, and creates a centre for experiential desire. It celebrates nature with a sustainable ethos that re-establishes the connection to natural ecosystems and respects the heritage of the building. It offers us the opportunity to rediscover the rhythm of the planet and come together as a community. Awakening the body and the mind, it invigorates our senses.

With a focus on slowing down and on reducing frantic mass consumption, only self-grown or self-crafted material goods are available at Sensorium, emphasising quality over quantity. Instead of having, buying and owning, we can be, feel and evolve through learning. Experiences, nature and community are to be enjoyed by all.

Each of the three floors has its own focus and subject-based installations. On the ground floor, sustainability, nature and community are the focus. Grow-your-own allotments, sustainability labs and independent crafts are featured throughout. Craftspeople showcase products through the making process rather than displaying stock. Interior gardens bloom in natural light, and hydroponics complement a calming environment.

Sensorium is an environment that cuts through the noise of everyday life

The first floor is devoted to the body, with spaces for exercise classes, treatment pods and self-care workshops. This floor also honours the arts with regular workshops such as painting, pottery and music.

The roof level draws on inspiring the mind. It is a place for contemplation, incorporating quiet sensory pods and mindfulness classes with minimalist huts for a mindful garden retreat.

The levels interconnect and intertwine with each other, bringing together the three focal elements: earth, body and mind as one. Sensorium is an environment that cuts through the noise of everyday life, allowing us to take time, enjoy new experiences and skills and reconnect with nature and science to find more sustainable ways to inhabit Earth.