As the unlikely merger of three human first designers, Sapien draws on every aspect of its varied experience to reveal spaces in which people are front and centre. From Sapæn, the Danish flatpack furniture giant, came the belief that purpose is the ally of beauty, and that function should drive designs. From Instruments Helvétique, the Swiss pharmaceuticals group, it inherited a blueprint for world-class medical centres and robotics expertise for the design of off-world equipment. And from 木漏れ日 (Komorebi), Honshu-based artistic architects, it carries the instinct to play with light, form, and architectural experience in a landscape of grey, pressurised hexagons. The net sum is Sapien’s unique expertise: second to none at human-centric design and breathing a soul into what others regard as functional.
Acting initially as a medical consultant on Beacon I to support long-term adaptation to zero-g, Sapien tried to develop design solutions which assumed zero-g as the norm. As a result, they were one of the first companies to take up office space on Beacon I because they understood that designing for humans in space couldn’t easily be done from Earth. Taking inspiration from their work on accessible buildings for Osaka, many interfaces began to be designed around providing positive support for tactile controls (to hook into so that buttons don’t push you away), displays readable in any direction, and furniture which was comfortable no matter how you approached it. But what many failed to understand was that the secret to Sapien’s success was not just attention to detail or empathy with offworld environments, but their relentless field-testing before committing to full-scale deployment. The result is a human experience embedded so neatly into the unique facets of each space settlement that it’s difficult to imagine how it could have been done any other way.
Sapien also specialises in creating natural environments for artificial spaces, playing with verticality to create sightlines, and using the interplay between natural and artificial light to draw attention and enable exploration. But natural environments only feel natural if they grow and shift around their inhabitants, and as a result, Sapien rejects the notion that settlements should be designed once and then bolted down for decades. This philosophy was first trialed on Beacon II where walking paths were defined by natural footfall, community features could be shifted for more convenient access, and buildings could be decorated to reflect a growing culture. Following a six month trial, this organised chaos left the community layout almost unrecognisable, but noted significantly better integration, safety outcomes, and mental wellbeing from inhabitants.This is one of many embedded passive and pre-emptive healthcare design integrations innovated by Sapien’s Shikaku (視覚) Institute for health technology, greatly increasing individual agency, and lightening the load on healthcare staff.
This webpage refers to a fictional company which is part of the UK Space Design Competition. No information presented here or implied herefrom should be regarded as factual. Any similarities with real events, places, or persons are purely coincidental.