Sensory Room Design

In addition to creating innovative sensory room products for children and adults across the spectrum of sensory needs, Experia USA pride ourselves on our professional sensory room design service. By working closely with parents and caregivers, our sensory room designers produce bespoke sensory room packages that accommodate the needs of their users as well as the spatial limitations of your school, hospital or home environment. 

Learn more about the design and installation of sensory rooms below, or send us your details via our quote form to receive a call from one of our friendly sensory room designers.

What Is Sensory Room Design?

Sensory rooms are dedicated spaces designed to facilitate the sensory needs of their intended users or aid cognitive development. Depending on the needs of the users, your sensory room design may incorporate calming products that allow them to relax or de-escalate from sensory overload, or interactive products that stimulate their senses in order to develop essential skills.

When you start planning your sensory room design, it is important to ask yourself the following questions:

• Who is using the sensory room?

While the sensory needs and developmental objectives of your user should be crucial to your sensory room design, you should consider the age, mobility and cognitive ability of your users to ensure everything in your room is accessible.

• How will the sensory room be used?

Whether you aim to create a calming space that soothes users through lighting, sound, and musical therapy, or to engage them in activities that develop their communication or motor skills, your objectives should be reflected in the design of your sensory room. 

• How many people will be using the sensory room?

If you intend for several users to access the space at the same time, you may need to increase the number of sensory activities available so that everyone can simultaneously benefit from the sensory environment. On the other hand, you may need to scale back your sensory room design to ensure your users can comfortably navigate the space without obstruction.

• Who will accompany the users?

Whether you plan to have specialist staff on hand to supervise your users, or each user will be accompanied by a dedicated caregiver, you need to ensure that your staff receive adequate training such that they can instruct your users how to use each sensory product safely and effectively. 

• How long will the sensory room be used?

While your current students, patients or care home residents may benefit from your sensory room design, the needs and abilities of future users might conflict with your sensory product selection. By making your space more adaptable to different needs, you can achieve a sensory room design with more longevity, saving you time and the stress of reconfiguring your space every few years.

How Does Sensory Room Design Benefit Users?

From promoting sensory development to providing a retreat for overstimulated individuals, your sensory room design can offer multiple benefits for your users. These include:

• Increasing Focus

By populating your space with absorbing wall panels and inviting tactile products, you can create a sensory room design that holds the attention of your users.

• Reducing Stress

From pairing bubble tubes with sensory mirrors to create a cosy sensory corner, to layering projections with other lighting and audio equipment to achieve an immersive underwater landscape, your sensory room design can offer a controlled environment far from the stress of the outside world. 

• Developing Social Skills

Interactive soundboards give individuals without speech the opportunity to communicate through touch, while our sound equalizers encourage audible communication by translating vocalizations into technicolor lightshows.

• Improving Motor Skills

Build on your users’ gross motor skills with interactive balance beams and other soft play products, or promote fine motor development with our maze controller and other IRiS Listener devices. 

Types of Sensory Room Design

There are many different types of sensory rooms, many of which are designed to fulfil a practical purpose in addition to accommodating the needs and development of their users. Some of the most common sensory room designs we produce include:

• Sensory Bedrooms

Whether your child needs to release some energy before bed or a consistent amount of stimulation to help them fall asleep, our sensory room designers can help you to curate a space that will take the stress out of bedtime.  

• Sensory Bathrooms

Keep your child occupied during bathtimes with enchanting fiber optics, or lean into the nautical atmosphere with one of our many underwater effect wheels.

• Sensory Pools

Working with qualified hydrotherapy technicians, our sensory room designers have successfully installed numerous sensory pools, offering users stimulation and other health benefits.

• Soft Play

Our soft floor pads are completely customizable, from their size to their colour, such that you can create a bespoke soft play area that your users will enjoy and that matches the dimensions of your space. 

• Multisensory Rooms

By effectively zoning your available space, you can design your sensory room such that it appeals to a spectrum of needs, which is essential in special educational environments. 

Sensory Room Design Process

From picking the right products to configuring them within your space, the process of sensory room designing and installation can be difficult without previous experience or some expert guidance. At Experia USA, we provide a complete sensory room design service that handles every aspect of the process, including keeping your products in perfect working condition. 

When you collaborate with Experia USA on your sensory room design, our team will offer support on the following steps:

1. Planning your sensory room

At the start of the design process, it is important to clarify who will be using your sensory room, what the purpose of the room will be, how many people will be using the space at any given time, and how sustainable this sensory room design will be for your users or institution. 

2. Choosing your sensory products

Once you are clear about the needs of your sensory space, you can start searching for products that will support your users’ needs or provide opportunities for sensory development. Our sensory room designers can help you with this selection, giving you insight into how each product functions and the benefits they can offer your users. 

3. Installing your sensory room

Once you have selected the products for your sensory room, they will be shipped to your address along with the necessary instructions to install them within your space. Depending on whether your sensory space is in a domestic or educational environment, you may wish to complete your installation during a vacation, so that your users can return to a brand new sensory room.

4. Maintaining your sensory room

While our sensory equipment is designed to withstand sustained use from multiple users, occasional technical faults can prevent your products from working as they should. To minimise the amount of time your users have to spend without their sensory products, we operate a technical support line between 08:00 AM and 05:30 PM EST Monday to Thursday and 08:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST every Friday. If you are experiencing any issues in your sensory room, please call us on 1-800-882-4045 or complete our online technical support form.