What Is Spatial Design? Plus Examples to Inspire Your Projects

Discover the core principles of spatial design, and how you can use them to imagine creative spaces with people in mind

Spatial design is a conceptual discipline that prioritizes both style and function to plan rooms that flow with their user in mind. Despite being a relatively new specialty, it’s one that’s growing in popularity due to its focus on going beyond imagining beautiful spaces, and putting people at the heart of the design process.

In this article, we’ll explore spatial design in more detail and how it differs from other disciplines. We’ll then share some examples of how award-winning architects have applied its principles to create unique, customer-focused spaces.

What is spatial design?

Put simply by The Royal Danish Academy, spatial design “focuses on the relationship between architecture, design, and people—with the interior as a point of departure.”

The discipline ties together the technical expertise of an architect with the more abstract creativity of a designer to meet the needs of the people using a space.

Spatial design also looks at how people interact with their exterior as well as interior environment, to create a complete design experience that extends beyond the four walls of each room.

How does spatial design differ from other forms of design?

While interior design might also take into consideration the client a space is intended for, with spatial design it’s the primary focus.

Spatial design considers the individual needs of each customer, and dives deep into how they move and interact within a space (much like experiential design), as well as how their needs might change and evolve over time.

Spatial designers work alongside architects and interior designers and, thanks to a growing interest in the area, many educational institutions offer courses in spacial design for budding new artists.

Things to consider

Since the focus of spatial design relies so heavily on the intended user of a space, each of them is different, but there are some things to take into consideration when planning any project:

- The interests and activities of the customer;

- the location of the building;

- the relationship between the spaces within it;

- the way different spaces interact, as well as how people interact with them;

- and the movement of people through the space, among other factors.

Examples of spatial design

Office S&M (@officesandm) is an award-winning architecture practice in London founded by Catrina Stewart and Hugh McEwen. They put these principles into practice to design people-centered spatial design solutions for homeowners, developers, and councils.

For Catrina and Stewart, spatial design means planning around a narrative. In their Domestika course, Spatial Design: Create Interior Spaces That Tell A Story, they explain: “What we mean by narrative design is designing around stories. It’s about how you want to live and how you want to work. It’s designing those moments in your everyday life that you want to improve.”

Below are some examples of how they apply this, and the other principles of spatial design, to their projects.

1. Family home

Catrina and Hugh designed this space for a growing family in need of more space. The finished project features a practical extension with a bedroom for each child but, despite its functionality, the new and improved Victorian property is anything but boring.

Playful use of color and light ties three floors together and a Snakes and Ladders-inspired staircase invites exploration. Speaking about their new child-friendly home, the client said: “The greatest joy of this renovation is that the architects have made the alterations so personal to us, with several pockets of space created to fit around how we live.”

2. Home studio

The main focus of Overcast House was work. As a personal color consultant working from home, the client struggled with how the natural light changed throughout the day and hindered her meetings.

Office S&M responded by designing a multi-functional kitchen extension that doubles as an artist’s studio.

Carefully-shaped roof lights mean the windows avoid direct sunlight while the gold color palette adds a touch of warmth to the north-facing room. The walls and roof structure are also made from timber to maximize space and prioritize sustainability, and a downstairs shower was incorporated to futureproof the home.

3. Creative wellbeing space

Spatial design is just as important when it comes to public spaces, as the creative duo proved with the concept for this 600m² arts-led community space. They co-designed the layout alongside locals from the area by hosting interviews, workshops, online surveys, and more to ensure it was fit for purpose for the residents of Green Street and fulfilled its purpose as a space with wellbeing at its heart.

The finished concept encapsulates six studios for artists as well as a multi-purpose communal space, a café and kitchen, a workshop space, and more. Catrina and Hugh took their consideration for people even further in this case by including materials created by local craftspeople.

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