Wave 4 and 5 | ECR, Healthcare Interior Architecture
Healthcare Interior Architecture for recovery and wellbeing.
The interiors of Wave 4 and Wave 5 encompass spaces of vastly different functions: consulting rooms, areas housing specialist medical equipment and installations, rehabilitation and leisure spaces such as a pool and sauna suite, residential rooms and apartments, as well as publicly accessible areas including a restaurant, main lobby, and circulation spaces. For all of them, the sea is the guiding theme, reflected in forms, finishing materials, and references chosen to evoke association. Every design element works to create an atmosphere that cannot be intuitively read as medical, providing, on a psychological level, conditions that support faster recovery and wellbeing for those recuperating after medical procedures or undergoing rehabilitation.
The interior design draws from the geometry, motifs, and material palette of the façade, creating a coherent and unified reading of the buildings. Ceilings and walls in the communal areas are finished with triangular plywood panels, a geometry borrowed from the façade’s own divisions, which continues into the balustrade of the Wave 5 stairwell. The Wave 4 stairwell has a different character, defined primarily by a form of variable geometry running from the ground floor to the crown of the staircase. Acting as a balustrade and based on the use of cables, it is designed to evoke the rigging of sailing vessels. The distinctive treatment of both stairwells is intentional: by making these spaces feel far from secondary, the design aims to encourage users to choose the stairs over the lifts when moving between floors. The corridors leading to the patient rooms bring two opposites together: a soft, sail-like ceiling and triangular panels that serve multiple purposes, protecting high-wear zones, contributing to the visual identity system, and concealing the medical staff call installation.
Light is one of the most important elements shaping the interiors. Sunlight filtering through perforated shutters creates ever-changing scenographies, shifting with the seasons and the time of day. In the restaurant area, a three-dimensional ceiling sets a mood of warmth through a bespoke lighting scheme. Each patient room is fitted with a ceiling light of soft appearance, handcrafted by a sculptor from bleached wicker.
A large proportion of the furniture, including the reception pieces and the core furnishings of the patient rooms, was designed bespoke. Throughout the process, the architect worked in close collaboration with the contractor, building 1:1 scale models prior to final production in order to develop optimal functional and aesthetic solutions.
One space, many functions.
The ground floor of Wave 4 serves multiple functions. The reception at the building entrance flows seamlessly into the bar and café. This zone opens visually onto the Nadmorski Garden and connects to a multi-level outdoor terrace — the café’s external garden. Along the southern façade, the restaurant dining area is laid out. Space is divided not by walls, but by a freestanding sculptural form made of wood. In line with the design intent, it partially screens the restaurant from the entrance and reception side, creating a sense of privacy. At the same time, because it does not reach the ceiling, it preserves a feeling of openness and allows the ground floor to be read as one larger, unified space. The form also carries knowledge and culture — its shelves hold volumes of poetry, novels, and titles on healthy living and nutrition.
To encourage building users to take the stairs more often, the stairwells were designed as spaces worthy of the journey in their own right — above all by giving them a distinct character and bringing natural light inside. In both Wave 4 and Wave 5, the stairwell balustrades are the defining design element. In Wave 5, alternating plywood triangles and white-painted panels create a sense of variation. Two passing layers generate a feeling of depth — through a careful balance of void and fill.
A stairwell rigged like a sail.
The character of the Wave 4 stairwell is defined by a form of variable geometry, inspired by the rigging of sailing vessels. It runs from the ground floor to the crown of the stairwell, serving as the balustrade — flowing through the void, passing between opposing flights. Achieving the correct tension of the cables required developing bespoke details and tensioning methods through the construction of on-site models. Steel cables were ultimately chosen, threaded through a cotton braid made specifically for this solution and treated for fire resistance.
Two extremes, one space.
The corridors leading to the patient rooms bring two opposites together. A soft ceiling — evoking sails — made from a specialised fabric also used in theatres. And triangular panels that serve multiple purposes: protecting high-wear zones from everyday use, contributing to the visual identity system, and concealing the medical staff call installation. Despite being a bespoke design, the system continues to meet the criteria of a medical product.
The patient rooms were designed from multiple angles. The first stage involved preparing a functional scenario for the room and mapping the connections and dependencies between furniture and equipment elements. This was followed by a detailed interior design covering material choices, lighting, and a mix of bespoke and factory-made furniture. On this basis, a full 1:1 scale model of the room was built on site, allowing the design solutions to be tested before the final rooms were executed in the completed buildings.
During the detailed design stage, technical drawings were produced for all the room furnishings — including the bedside cabinet, wardrobe, and a multifunctional unit housing a refrigerator. These are complemented by bespoke mirror designs and clothes hooks, whose forms and material choices continue the main themes running through the buildings. Given the varying geometry of individual rooms, the design provided a common base for all spaces, supplemented by modules tailored to each specific room. The production of the full series was preceded by 1:1 scale models, developed in close collaboration with the joinery contractor.
The rooms extend outward through balconies and outdoor terraces. The balcony balustrades were designed to ensure privacy for their users, while at the same time preserving unobstructed views — including onto the Nadmorski Garden. The terraces adjoining the rooms are fitted with a system of operable shutters. When closed, they filter sunlight and provide shelter on hot days. When opened, they reveal not only a view onto the ornamental water feature, but also a form that fits perfectly into the three-dimensional geometry of the façade.
The patient rooms are fitted with ceiling lights handcrafted by a sculptor. The form of the fixtures draws from the geometry of the sea — their fluid shapes lending a softness to the ceiling plane. This impression is further reinforced by the material: bleached wicker, the same material traditionally used for beach baskets that once sheltered bathers from the wind. A defining feature of the Baltic coastal landscape, today found primarily in historical photographs.
