Wave 1, ECR Health Care Complex
A multifunctional complex of health care facilities with a specialized and one-day hospital, extensive medical rehabilitation, clinic and a group of medical and research laboratories. The complex is open and integrated with the urban tissue of Sopot. The architecture of buildings derives from the geometry and energy of sea waves.
The European Family Center (ECR) complex draws from the idea of holistic medicine, which assumes that the state of mind, spirit, and body mutually influence one another and that the whole organism must be treated. This approach is reflected in the diversity of functions and the way the landscape is shaped to fill the space between the ECR buildings. An important aspect is the integration of the complex with the urban fabric of Sopot. The main axis of the complex, the Central Avenue, connects the ECR with the Sopot Błonia meadows to the south and a decorative retention basin to the north, creating a new pedestrian route. In shaping the landscape, plants characteristic of coastal communities were used, primarily those typical of the coastal crowberry forest. Pines with their distinctively formed crowns and trunks will play a leading role in creating strong visual associations.
The project plans for the construction of five buildings, numbered B1 through B5, in three stages. Building B1 is planned to house accredited medical diagnostic laboratories, performing a full spectrum of procedures—from general urine and blood morphology tests to whole genome sequencing of the patient. The Research and Development Center will develop virtual support tools using machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Building B2 will include an outpatient section with specialist offices, imaging diagnostic laboratories, a day hospital with an operating block and procedure rooms, and a stem cell laboratory. Buildings B4 and B5 will be equipped with patient and family accommodation rooms. The program is complemented by rooms in the endocrine-metabolic regenerative medicine zone, providing integrated care for patients undergoing diagnosis and therapy for lifestyle diseases (particularly infertility). Building B3 is planned as a specialized hospital with a gynecological and obstetric profile.
The architecture of the complex buildings is inspired by the photographs of French artist Pierre Carreau. His series titled “AquaViva” depicts the beauty, energy, and diversity of sea waves. The artist himself describes the waves in his photos as “fluid sculptures” frozen for eternity through photography. The shaping of the mass and the facade divisions is consistent across all the buildings in the complex. On a sensory level, the buildings are meant to evoke the image of a sea wave crashing onto a sandy shore. The primary element contributing to this impression is the building’s contour line. It begins at the front facade, bends with a curvature over the roof, then flows downward to ultimately connect the building with its surroundings. The boundary between the building and its environment is softened by a green wall. This wall, part of the building’s facade, blends into the vegetation of the Coastal Garden designed within the ECR complex.
Location and history
The building is located in Sopot, a city in the northern part of Poland on the Bay of Gdańsk. The oldest traces of human presence in Sopot and its surroundings date back to around 9,000 BCE, to the Stone Age. This area also played a role during the Roman Empire, as it was involved in active trade with southern Europe along the so-called Amber Route. Today, Sopot is one of the most renowned spa towns in Poland. The spa tradition began in 1823 when Jan Haffner, a former doctor in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, established a bathing facility. Over the following years, more spa buildings were constructed, and the town gradually transformed into a health resort and summer destination.
The site where the building stands is located in an area called “Dolny Sopot,” just 400 meters from the beach. To the south, it opens onto a large park area known as the Błonia Sopockie, while to the north it borders a landscaped retention reservoir. This reservoir is part of the city’s hydrological safety system.
Difficult site conditions, including a high groundwater level and the presence of unstable soils, caused the plot where the Fala 1 building was constructed to remain unused for many years. This led to progressive land degradation, with discarded furniture and construction waste accumulating on the site.
Form and Facade – Vision and Architecture
The inspiration for the building’s form and facade comes from the AquaViva photo series by Pierre Carreau. The architects were fascinated by the geometric diversity and complexity of sea waves captured by the photographer. In Carreau’s images, on one hand, the waves appear as three-dimensional, curved forms frozen in time, resembling blocks of pure ice. In other photos, the waves are full of energy and, thanks to the sea foam on their crests, seem light and airy, blending seamlessly with the sky. A thorough analysis of the photographs allowed the architects to notice the subtle divisions that emerge from the interactions within the wave, breaking up what might appear as a uniform, smooth surface. Another observed element was the interplay of light and shadow, which adds depth and plasticity to the sea waves, along with their natural sleekness.
All these observations were translated into architectural language and helped shape the final form of the building’s mass and facade—in both geometric and sensory terms. The lower zone of the building, along its south-north axis, is solid and creates a uniform plane. As the elevation rises, the facade surface begins to gain dynamism, culminating at the top in the formation of a “wave crest.” This crest is not straight but features a subtle indentation located in the central zone.
The entire facade is divided into triangular panels formed by lines cutting through fixed and movable parts. From the east and west sides, the shifting sun brings out gleams and reflections from the three-dimensional facade, finished with a light-reflecting material. On sunny summer days, these reflections also extend onto the sidewalk, creating a fleeting and ephemeral detail that enlivens the immediate surroundings of the building.
Form and Facade – The Process
The process of shaping the facade, with regard to its realization, began with defining the geometry of the structure, including both reinforced concrete and steel frameworks. For the reinforced concrete structure, in the upper parts of the building on the south and north sides, a division into panels was planned. This adopted division corresponded to the final layout and spatial arrangement of perforated metal sheet panels that form the exterior finish of the facade.
The base for the part of the facade that crowns the building is a steel structure, whose shape follows two curvatures of the facade’s “outer skin.” One curvature involves inclination along the longer axis of the facade, while the other references the concavity of a sea wave, which served as inspiration during the shaping of the building’s form. Similarly, the roof structure above the building’s entrance on the south side was designed following this concept.
The geometry of both the reinforced concrete and steel structures was modeled and coordinated by the architects, and then handed over to the engineers, who prepared detailed workshop designs.
