Wren Loucks created Be-kin to offer clients a life-enhancing design service. It encompasses her diverse background in mental health advocacy, luxury interior design and access consultancy. Be-kin’s unique design method supports social sustainability, improves productivity and stimulates wellbeing.
Wren took the time to answer some questions for us.
Can you tell us a bit about your journey into interior design as your passion and work?
“We’re all just walking each other home.”
This is a quote by Ram Dass, who was an American Spiritual leader. This resonates with my own life journey, where I have been exploring what it means to come home and fully embody myself – and my journey with clients as their designer, where I see myself as a guide, helping them to unlock their own creativity and self-acceptance through the design process.
I launched Be-kin in 2020. I wanted to create a design studio that supported wellbeing inside and out – to both designers, the supply chain and to our clients. Be-kin encompasses my background in mental health activism, my degrees in Fine Art, Art History and Architectural Interior Design. It stitches together my experience in the ultra-luxury interior design market in London UK, and access consultancy where I worked with leading researchers to develop inclusive design strategies that support a range of cognitive, physical, and sensorial differences. The Be-kin team is built up of the best designers, CAD technicians, illustrators and craftsman and women that I have come across in my design journey. I feel incredibly proud of the work we are creating.
What is unique about your design approach?
My clients describe my design process as life enhancing and unlike anything they have experienced with other designers. For me, it is about working in a collaborative way with clients, to unlock their own creativity and actively involve them in the design process.
I work this way with clients because I believe that when they are consciously involved in the design process – in creating a home, workspace, or commercial venture – this transforms their relationship with what is created. It becomes more than a beautiful space; it becomes a reflection of who they are. From a psychological and spiritual perspective, this can stimulate greater self-love and acceptance.
Please tell us a bit about this project and why you chose this rug from Coral + Hive for the London apartment project?
With many of my clients, we spend time discussing the homes they have lived in and the impressions these spaces have left on their psyche. For this client, he had incredibly fond memories of his family home in New Zealand. He described sitting on sheepskin rugs on the floor and enjoying the texture of this. We intentionally incorporated Coral + Hive’s beautiful textured Noosa rug to evoke this childhood memory for him. In this way, the rug becomes not only a beautiful texture in the present moment, but a deeper symbol of what home means to this client.
How does a space affect a sense of overall wellbeing?
As we move through the world, we ingest a multitude of sensorial inputs – sounds, textures, smells, tastes, visual aesthetics – and all these inputs leave impressions on our psyche. They can make us feel good, or they can trigger a negative response. I work with clients to help them become more sensitive to how they are impacted by sensorial inputs, so that we can intentionally craft spaces that support their wellbeing. This is supported by science, and my own understanding of space from a more spiritual and practical design perspective.
Some tips on designing a space that will inspire a sense of calm and wellbeing.
A general tip I tend to give is to look at nature. Nature is my greatest inspiration, and within it, I believe all the answers are contained. Natural light, plants, a range of textures – these will all help restore us and support our wellbeing. If you are curious to learn more about nature and wellbeing, you can start reading up about the biophilic hypothesis.
What do you love about working with Coral + Hive?
I love working with Coral + Hive because you not only offer a beautiful product, but as a company you care deeply about your team and your supply chain. I know when I specify one of your rugs, my client will not only receive a rug that they will cherish for decades, but within each fiber will be woven a feeling of love and care. This is what I call multi-dimensional Design – where the piece itself begins to radiate wellbeing because of the way it’s been made. Or from an ESG perspective you could call this social sustainability. Either way, it means that when I specify your pieces, I know I am supporting a supply chain that is adding positive value to the world.
Beautiful insights, thank you Wren!
Words: Wren Loucks
Photographs: Athina Kontos