When I first opened The Lift Shaft I had a little devil on my shoulder (also in the form of my partner and friends) shouting into my ear that the 2.1×2.1 meter, top floor space of an upright container I had just rented just wouldn’t work. For a moment, in all of the noise, I almost believed that too.
I hear this often \u201cI\u2019d love to build an escape room, experience, something, but I just don\u2019t have the right space.\u201d but the truth is there is no such thing as “the perfect space”. There’s just space… and what you do with it.
My first fault in designing was not the space I had chosen but how I utilised it – but as I have grown as an experience designer I’ve fallen in love with and leant into this untouched thought… I can create anywhere.
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I think I may have touched on this in every post I have made but it really does bleed into my ethos of design. Space is one of the best constraints to have in design, especially if ‘unique’ is your thing.
Every creative person knows that limitations can be a gift \u2014 but in spatial design, they\u2019re often your secret weapon. When you can\u2019t rely on spectacle, you\u2019re forced to think differently. You focus on tension, pacing, storytelling, and how players interact with the world around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every space I have designed for has needed that something extra. Personally, I was never interested in building another space ship, Sherlock Holmes or wizard themed room so the spaces I have found helped in shaping my experiences into something unique, intimate and full of character.
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When you walk into a potential venue, don\u2019t start by imagining how to hide<\/em> its flaws \u2014 look for what makes it special. What\u2019s the natural personality of the space? The texture of the walls, the hum of the lights, the echo \u2014 these are all storytelling tools. They\u2019re clues to what the experience wants to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A low ceiling might suggest tension and claustrophobia. A random alcove? That\u2019s a hiding place for a… wooden cross (That’s a nice little tip for Lock & Rock so bear that in mind!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trick is to collaborate with the space. Let it tell you what kind of story it wants to hold. Something I have learnt in my many years as a musician, is that you you\u2019re not fighting the instrument into submission. You\u2019re having a conversation with it and the same should stand when designing – converse with the space. It’s telling you things and we should all listen. What is Peripheral Awareness? It’s something that most escape room designers want to retain. Solving puzzles in an escape room almost always requires your team to have peripheral awareness – and we help this along in our design wether we use sounds, smells, colours or lights. We pull the attention of our players around the room. Some may call that misdirection and while it’s similar, it is different. As a conjuror I’m trained to pull the attention away from the sneaky stuff happening right in front of their eyes. Removing someones peripheral awareness if pulling them in closer, letting them see everything while forgetting everything else around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pulling focus in works as well, and sometimes better, than having many points of focus in a large room. Let\u2019s get practical for a second. If you\u2019re designing in a small or awkward location, there are a few tricks that can make the space feel expansive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember: immersion doesn\u2019t come from square footage. It comes from focus, rhythm, and imagination. I’ve built escape rooms in places that many people wouldn’t look at and the immersion and design is what people praise it for. They are memorable for the uniqueness it helped inspire. Every designer dreams of the perfect blank canvas \u2014 but in truth, the most interesting work often comes from painting over the cracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t need a warehouse to build wonder. You just need imagination, a willingness to listen to your space, and sometimes, yes \u2014 a literal hole in the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because when players step into your world, they won\u2019t care about the square footage. When I first opened The Lift Shaft I had a little devil on my shoulder (also in the form of my partner and friends) shouting into my ear that the 2.1×2.1 meter, top floor space of an upright container I had just rented just wouldn’t work. For a moment, in all of the noise, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-lift-escape-rooms"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nRemoving Peripheral Awareness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What if we don’t want that? Imaging an experience that requires focus and attention on a small, intimate space. An experience that involves the participant to forget everything around them.
It’s a tool that really helps when designing for small, intimate spaces and something I learned in my time as a professional magician. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nMaking the Small…. Big<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Real World….<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mayday Airways is a good example of utilising a space that was small and awkward. A small passenger cabin with one row of seats and one door leading to the cockpit. It’s tight… but that’s what will make the experience so immersive and realistic.
Tried moving on a plane? Imagine solving puzzles on said plane. It wouldn’t be comfortable. No one would question the space though. The space gave me many a constraint to work with and that has driven me to make it something special.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Magic of Making Something from Nothing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll remember how it felt.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"