Most fragrance teams can bring evaluation back to their own site without building a lab from scratch. What they need is a controlled space with clean, fast-changing air, sized around the products they test and the equipment they use.
For years the default has been to send samples, and often people, to an off-site R&D facility. It works, but every round trip adds days to a brief, and the people who make the final call are rarely in the room when a fragrance is first smelled. This guide looks at what an in-house evaluation space actually needs, and how to decide between a built room and a modular booth.
The main reason is speed. When a perfumer can test a modification in an on-site booth in the afternoon, a brief that used to take weeks of back and forth can move in days.
The second reason is who gets to be involved. Brand directors and commercial teams rarely travel to an R&D site for an early evaluation, so their feedback tends to arrive late, when changes cost more. A booth at head office puts the decision-makers next to the people creating the fragrance.
Client visits play a part too. For fragrance developers that supply other brands, being able to present a fragrance in a controlled setting on their own premises is part of the sale. It shows the work is done properly, in a space they are proud to bring people into.
A reliable evaluation space is one where the only thing you can smell is the sample. Everything else in the design follows from that.
Background odour. Ordinary offices carry smells from cleaning products, coffee, carpets and people. In an open room these sit underneath every evaluation and skew the result. An enclosed space with its own air supply removes most of that noise.
Air changes. Once a sample has been assessed, the air needs clearing before the next one, or the two blur together. AromaBooth runs at up to 8 air changes an hour with internal ozone-charged air purification, and is configured for a 30-minute turnaround between tests.
Sealed, taint-free construction. Clean air only stays clean if outside air stays out. AromaBooth's doors, hatches and fittings are fully sealed, and its surfaces are non-porous, so they don't hold on to the last fragrance tested.
Temperature and humidity. Both change how a fragrance diffuses and how it reads on a blotter or skin. AromaBooth can vary temperature and humidity, so you can hold conditions steady for comparable results or test a product under different conditions.
How samples get in and out. Front and rear access hatches let a colleague pass samples into the booth without opening the door and letting outside air in, which is also useful for blind testing. A rear access configuration, with glass internal walls, lets you present fragrances to clients.
Room for real-world testing. Not every fragrance is judged on a blotter. Teams working on laundry or home care products often need to test in use, so AromaBooth can be configured around equipment such as a washing machine. Many sites also pair their booths with testing bathrooms, so shower and bath products can be assessed the way customers use them.
For most teams testing a defined range of products at head office, a modular booth is the faster and more predictable route. A purpose-built room makes more sense when evaluation is the main activity on site and the space needs to hold a panel of people at once.
|
Built evaluation room |
Modular booth |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Best for |
Dedicated sensory labs, large panels |
Evaluation at head office, in labs or on production sites |
|
Design |
Designed from scratch for each building |
Proven design, scaled in height and width to fit your space |
|
Services needed |
Often needs ventilation work tied into the building |
Runs from standard electrical circuits, with no external venting |
|
Air performance |
Depends on the design and the building's systems |
Up to 8 air changes an hour, with internal ozone-charged purification |
|
Turnaround between tests |
Depends on the ventilation design |
Configured for 30 minutes |
|
Where it can go |
Limited by the building's structure and services |
Any floor; current sites range from basement to third floor, in groups of 2 to 10 booths |
|
Client presentation |
Has to be designed in |
Rear access configuration and glass internal walls available |
As a design-and-build company, we deliver both, and often the right answer is a booth within a wider fit-out of the office or lab around it.
A handful of answers shapes almost every part of the design. Having them ready makes the first conversation with a fit-out partner far more useful.
The AromaBooth planner takes you through these questions in a couple of minutes and gives you a summary of what to consider, which our team then picks up with you.
CPL Aromas. We have delivered AromaBooth for CPL Aromas at their Marriotts Court and Brixworth sites. At Brixworth, we created new testing laboratories with their own air purification and management systems, alongside bespoke fragrance testing booths and testing bathrooms. At Marriotts Court, bespoke AromaBooths sit alongside specialist laboratory and testing bathroom space.
Laurelle London. When Laurelle London moved into a new-build facility on Canvey Island, their interest in AromaBooth led to a much larger project. We built their whole facility from scratch, production floor included, with the aim of creating a headquarters they are proud to bring clients into.
An enclosed space with its own controlled air, used to evaluate fragrances without interference from surrounding smells. Perfumers and evaluators use it to assess samples consistently, and many companies also use it to present fragrances to clients.
AromaBooth runs at up to 8 air changes an hour with internal ozone-charged air purification, and is configured for a 30-minute turnaround between tests.
Yes. AromaBooth can be configured around in-use testing equipment, including a washing machine, so products can be judged the way customers experience them.
No. AromaBooth needs no external air venting and runs from standard electrical circuits, so it can go on any floor of an existing building. Current installations range from basement level to the third floor, in both lab space and head office space.