Harley Young goes road-tripping around the Spanish capital in the LBX
Whether you’re a driver that just uses your car for the work commute, or an avid road-tripper that’s clocking up the miles on a regular basis, it’s easy to just get into your vehicle and take it for granted. We don’t often think about the intricate little details that go into developing and designing a modern motor.
Japanese luxury car brand Lexus provides each of their customers even more opportunities to express their individual style and values with their vehicle. It’s an approach that’s being pioneered with the LBX, Lexus’s groundbreaking new small SUV. It’s been designed, not as just a means-to-an-end mode of transport for A-to-B travel, but as more of a space to live your life in comfort.
As a driver (or, indeed, a passenger) in a Lexus vehicle, everything you can see, hear, touch and even smell is harmoniously combined to create the ideal multi-sensory environment for comfortable, seamless journeys that suit your lifestyle.
Having carefully considered all elements that make up an enjoyable driving experience, Lexus users don’t just have the option of feeding their wellbeing with calming lighting and soothing sounds, but also the opportunity to add a little ‘oomph’ into their journey with the help of specially-crafted fragrances made in partnership with Givaudan and perfectly equalised up-tempo beats feeding straight through Mark Levinson speakers, optimised specifically for the LBX.
Last Thursday (16 October), I was kindly invited out to Madrid with Lexus to take part in a series of multi-sensory experiences and workshops, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the key elements that make their vehicles so unique and personal to the user, as showcased by Lexus’ designers and specialist partners themselves.
Touch
On arriving at our stunning hotel for the evening, The Madrid EDITION, we were greeted by a Takumi design LBX perched upon a giant, plush fur sofa - a nod to the brand’s comfort and liveability messaging.
Once we’d freshened up from our flight, it was time to head upstairs to the penthouse for welcome drinks and our first workshop; ‘Touch’.
One of the first things you take into consideration when buying a car is how it looks, from the exterior and finishings to interior details and furnishings. With Lexus car designs, there are three guiding principles:
- Omotenashi - the Japanese spirit of hospitality and service
- Takumi - the finest craftsmanship, rooted in artisan traditions
- Time - applying a respect for Japanese heritage and tradition to create a valuable experience whenever you spend time in one of Lexus’ vehicles
“We want to provide meaningful value for our customers, society and the planet. For us, sustainability goes beyond reducing CO2. It involves respecting ‘Time,’ preserving our heritage while also bringing innovation to craftsmanship to create products that deliver value and appeal to our customers,” explained Viviana Hohenstein, a Lexus designer working at the brand’s European Design & Development centre in the South of France.
Lexus vehicles have evolved over the years, with colours, materials and finishes being used to give their modern designs an ‘edgier’ feel while remaining true to the brand’s Japanese heritage and concept of luxury.
Lexus has also recently started to use bamboo in its cars as a versatile and sustainable material that has less environmental impact. As a raw material, it can be transformed into a great range of materials, from an alternative to leather and plastic to composite materials and carpet textiles. Using bamboo contributes to a circular design principle, delivering something that feels luxurious while also being environmentally responsible.
“We are now in an era of CMF design that uses sensory experiences to create personalised and immersive luxury,” adds Viviana. “Today, the role of CMF is not limited to visual and surface aesthetics. It is also about sound, touch and smell, using all five human senses to optimise the user experience.”
The following morning, we awoke bright and early, ready to set out on a road trip across Madrid in our very own LBX for the day. After an hour of getting familiar with the car and taking in the sights of the city and its surroundings, we arrived at Finca el Gasco - a breathtaking country estate on the banks of the Guadarrama River - for our next workshop; ‘Smell’.
Lexus has partnered with world leader in fragrance, Givaudan, to create bespoke fragrances that help to boost customers’ moods and enhance the driving experience of their vehicles.
Our sense of smell is one of the first senses we develop as babies. With over 20 million receptor neurons in our noses, we are able to detect around a trillion different scents. These different scents trigger up to three quarters of our emotional responses, so having the right ambient scent can help to create calming moods or inject bursts of energy into our daily lives.
Givaudan has produced a new bamboo accord that has been tailored specifically for Lexus to use in five new fragrances in its future designs.
The upcoming all-new Lexus ES luxury sedan will be the first model to offer this Sensory Concierge; a system that seamlessly co-ordinates the car’s climate control, interior lighting and fragrance options to create an appropriate mood to suit the driver’s personal taste or purpose of the trip.
After heightening our senses with a good few sniffs of the soon-to-be-released, bespoke scents, we enjoyed a coffee at Lexus’ Omotenashi-on-the-Go roadside food truck. Over six metres long, weighing two tonnes and finished in an elegant, black and copper Lexus design, it is an innovative interpretation of the brand’s aesthetic DNA.
“We didn’t simply want a food truck. We wanted an authentic piece of automotive design, where every curve, texture and finish speak the Lexus language,” the Lexus Europe design team explains.
The interior displays all the attention to detail you would find in a Lexus luxury car, including a Mark Levinson audio system and wood and ceramics integrated in a countertop that’s inspired by the grille featured on Lexus vehicles. Working alongside professional chefs, the design includes high-performance stoves, precision cooling systems and ergonomic preparation stations for streamlined food and beverage service.
Of course, no road trip would be complete without a banging playlist and the right sound system to accompany it. Thankfully, our final sensory workshop and last stop on the route led us to a jaw-dropping multi-level modern villa where - after an incredible lunch of local cuisine - audio experts Mark Levinson were ready and waiting to tell us all about their prestige audio system that harmoniously balances sound levels for the optimum listening experience.
Mark Levinson has been Lexus’ exclusive premium audio partner for more than 25 years. Today, every new Lexus model gives customers the option to enjoy exceptional on-board entertainment from bespoke systems, specifically tailored to the shape and size of the car’s interior.
The audio brand’s acoustics specialists work alongside Lexus’ designers right from the early stages of a new car development to ensure they are delivering the best results when it comes to clear, crisp audio - no matter the style of music you prefer.
The near-silent LBX cabin provides the perfect setting for the new custom-engineered 13-speaker Mark Levinson® Premium Sound audio, including a 22.4 cm subwoofer beneath the load space floor. Using the new Mark Levinson Quantum Logic Surround Technology with Clari-Fi®, this array creates a full-bodied sound stage with balanced frequency and high clarity and definition.
To find out more about Lexus, their brand partners and the LBX, visit lexus.co.uk.
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