Key points
The senses work together
People judge a space by how well what they smell matches what they see, touch and hear.
Fit creates quality
When scent, materials and light tell the same story, a space feels coherent and premium.
Equal Strategy’s method since 1998
Designing scent to match architecture, materials and brand, ahead of much of the published research.
Scent that belongs to the space it is in
Cross-modal congruence describes how the senses inform one another. People do not experience a building one sense at a time. They judge it by how well everything fits together: the stone underfoot, the light, the temperature, the sound and the scent. When those signals agree, the space feels coherent, considered and premium. When they clash, it feels wrong, even if nobody can say why.
Equal Strategy has designed scent this way since 1998, matching fragrance to architecture, materials and brand ahead of much of the published research on scent congruence. Every PrimeScents signature scent begins with this method.
What the research found
Academic work on scent congruence followed in the 2000s. A published review of ambient scent research reports that pleasant scents improve how people evaluate an environment when the scent fits the setting. Adams and Douce found that when scent and environment do not fit, the positive effect is lost.
Matching scent to space
Examples of congruence in commercial buildings, applied through every signature scent.
Cool stone and glass: crisp, mineral and citrus notes
Warm timber and low light: woods and amber
Bright, planted atriums: green and tea notes
Heavily air-conditioned lobbies: notes that stay warm in cool air
How we apply it
Congruence shapes the brief, the composition and the testing.
Read the space
We study the building’s materials, light, colour, temperature, sound and brand.
Brief the scent
We translate those qualities into an olfactory brief for DROM’s perfumers.
Test in place
Concepts are evaluated in the building itself, where every other sense is present.
Frequently asked questions
1. What is cross-modal congruence?
The fit between what people smell and what they see, touch and hear. Congruent scent makes a space feel coherent and premium.
2. Why does it matter for a building?
Research finds that a scent which fits its environment improves how people evaluate the space, and one that does not loses that benefit.
3. How long has Equal Strategy used this method?
Since 1998, ahead of much of the published research on scent congruence.
4. Can a catalogue scent be congruent?
Only by chance. A catalogue scent is chosen from a list, not composed for your building’s materials and brand.
5. Does congruence change by zone?
Yes. A lobby, a lift and a client floor can have different materials and light, so intensity and emphasis are calibrated per zone.
6. Where can I see the method in practice?
Through our signature scent process and scent and brand story.
Get started
A scent that fits your building
Request a site assessment and we will read your space before we brief a single note.