{tag:studenci}, a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Silesian University of Technology, designed Rehabitat—a rehabilitation center for people after stroke, which could be built in Gdańsk. His modular design caught the attention of the jury of the Next Generation of Stroke Rehabilitation Centers competition, which awarded him an honorable mention!
The goal of the competition, organized by the International Union of Architects (UIA) in cooperation with the UIA Public Health Group and NOVELL Redesign Team and the Australian Health Design Council (AHDC), was to encourage architecture students to create health-related designs and develop new ideas and futuristic concepts to help solve the problems of stroke patients, their family members and medical staff.
A rehabilitation center in Gdańsk is surrounded by greenery
© Artur Gała
rehabilitation center
The challenge was to design a rehabilitation center for 30 stroke survivors. The organizers were looking for creative ideas that would take into account the patients' needs and help them recover. The facilities could be designed on any site chosen by the participants, while they could not exceed 1,600 square meters in area (with exceptions). In addition to rooms for patients, the center was to include, spaces for medical staff, a rehabilitation and gymnasium, therapy space, offices, a patient dining room, storage rooms and additional spaces related to local alternative therapies. Each of the submitted projects had to have a supervisor from the university.
Rehabilitation center in Gdańsk, axonometry
© Artur Gała
The projects submitted from all over the world were evaluated by a jury consisting of John Cooper (architect from the UK, chairman of the jury), Fani Vavili-Tsinika (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, UIA, Greece), Philip Patrick Sun (architect, United States), Jane Repin Carthey (architect, Australia), Innocent Okpanum (architect, Africa).
First Prize of 5 thousand euros was awarded to the Xhosa Miracle Spring project by a team from China consisting of: Zheyuan Zhao, Jiayu Sun, Yutong Sun, Haibo Sun Fei Lian (supervisor). The jury also awarded four prizes and seven honorable mentions. You can see all the results and competition entries on the competition website.
Rehabilitation center in Gdańsk, projection of level 0 (competition entry).
© Artur Gała
honorable mention for Polish students
Among the awarded works were as many as two projects from Poland! Rehabitat by Artur Gała, made under the direction of Dr. Jan Kubec at the Silesian University of Technology, and Wrocław Stroke Rehabilitation Center designed by Fryderyk Karzkowiak and Ewelina Zub at the Wrocław University of Technology under the direction of Prof. Barbara Gronostajska. You will read about their project soon in a separate article.
Rehabilitation center in Gdańsk, projection of level 0 (thesis)
© Artur Gała
Artur Gała's award-winning project is part of his master's thesis entitled. „REHABITAT—An attempt to define a model health unit according to the ideas of structuralism and biophilia on the example of a project for a rehabilitation center for people after stroke.” The facility was designed for 64 patients with the assumption that the structure can be expanded.
REHABITAT gets its name from a combination of the words rehabilitation and habitat. They depict the project as a place for rehabilitation characterized by optimal conditions for its users. Meanwhile, the main design directions shaping these optimal conditions are structuralism and biophilia. The essence of structuralism in the design is the openness of the system and its infinity, which is more like an ever-changing city than a closed architectural composition, the author explains.
gymnasium overlooking the garden
© Artur Gała
Rehabilitation center in Gdańsk
For the center's location, the young architect chose a plot of land located in Gdańsk in close proximity to the Tri-City Landscape Park. This allows patients to recover surrounded by forests and lakes. There is also a neurology clinic nearby.
Rehabilitation center in Gdańsk, cross section
© Artur Gała
The concept of the Silesian University of Technology graduate assumes versatility and expandability by replicating along the passageways a repetitive layout of modular units. This makes it possible to expand the facility in multiple directions, providing access to courtyards.
An important element of the design is to allow patients to interact socially by introducing common areas. Rehabilitation and meetings take place in a space created according to biophilic design principles.
Rehabilitation center in Gdańsk, conceptual diagram
© Artur Gała
building from modules
I started building the structure by determining the size of the modular unit, whose long-span structure would provide a free plan and the possibility of free shaping of the rooms. In the next step, two types of passageways were created. The first one, a standard one adapted to healthcare buildings, and the second one, which was, on the model of city streets, widened and raised to two stories," says Artur Gała.
Courtyards were created between the modules
© Artur Gała
In addition, the designer supplemented the spaces with furniture and greenery, and along the passageways placed modules grouped by function—the entrance area, patients' rooms, individual rehabilitation rooms, staff rooms, swimming pool, gymnasium and technical rooms with kitchen facilities.
Courtyards were created between the functional modules to ensure proper lighting and visually differentiated to facilitate orientation in the building.
patient room transformation scheme
© Artur Gała
adaptable space
As intended, the facility's space can be adaptable and transformable.
The biggest design challenge was to create a structure that could easily grow and adapt to current requirements, while maintaining the functionality of the facility at a larger size. The patient staying in his room himself can decide the form of the space. The basic private and closed form of the room can be opened up and combined with the public space, creating a place for social interaction," says a graduate student.
one of the private rooms
© Artur Gała
The rooms can be combined, adapting to the spatial requirements of a particular mode of rehabilitation, and the dining room outside meal times can become a place for meetings or additional communal activities.
The author has used numerous environmentally friendly solutions
© Artur Gała
The author has taken care of the environment by choosing construction and finishing materials of natural origin. The building structure consists of CLT and GLT beams and columns, while the elevations and interior partitions were designed as prefabricated, repetitive, modular elements.
