The Our Lady of Heart House has been operating in Warsaw's Włochy neighborhood since February. This is another Home for the Homeless of the Bread of Life Community, run by Sister Małgorzata Chmielewska, designed by the XYstudio. Seventy needy people will find shelter in the new facility.
The main goal of the project was to create a place for the temporary stay of people with disabilities and the sick, offering not only accommodation, but also identification, medical care, diagnosis and therapy. People in crisis of homelessness are also to be supported here in developing skills to fulfill social roles and solve problems independently. Those who receive the most urgent assistance at the new Home will be able to continue their treatment and therapy in specialized facilities.
bird's eye view
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © XYstudio
The facility was built in a challenging, somewhat degraded context. The immediate vicinity of the plot is a ring road, which is separated from the House by a wall of acoustic screens, with planes flying overhead every 10 minutes, and a chaotic landscape of warehouses, houses, dilapidated roads and roadsides. In such an environment, the architects of XYstudio proposed a very simple, orderly block.
exterior view
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © XYstudio
The house is supported on a concrete base with visible formwork impressions. The loose composition of the windows is meant to introduce rhythm, but their varying heights are also related to the functions they serve in the interiors. In rooms, low sills are by tables, higher ones above beds. Small windows can be opened, large ones can no longer. This, of course, reduced the cost of the investment, but also ensures the safety and comfort of the wards.
chapel
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © XYstudio
The facades of the main body of the building are finished with brick-red colored mosaic plaster. This color is the result of the design team's observations of rust in the area, which they noticed on fences, roofs and sometimes elevations.
In creating this gray base with a coral finial, we inscribed the House into the rolling landscape. We wanted it to blend in and make friends with its surroundings. We fought for a long time over an old pear tree in the entrance plaza. Leaning, gnarled, yet full of life and pear trees. Now it proudly greets us and will bloom in the spring, becoming a symbol of survival, " explain the architects from XYstudio.
A view of the chapel from the outside
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © XYstudio
Residents of the House sleep in six-person rooms, which provide them with a certain level of intimacy and privacy. By design, the House is a temporary place, waiting for procedures to be carried out and referrals to continue, so integration plays a secondary role here, putting tranquility and peace first. The place that serves as an integrator is the smoking room, where residents are most likely to interact with each other. A similar role is played by the small pond that exists across the street, where residents of the House fish together with local residents. The relationships they establish become part of the therapy.
The neighbors have welcomed the new residents very warmly. Older people, especially those who are lonely, will sometimes drop by to eat a meal together and talk. A lot of people come to Sunday service at the chapel. The absence of a fence on the side of Folial and Enamel Streets will open the building to the local community. The open entrance plaza invites and connects one to the other, the designers from XYstudio add.
room
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © XYstudio
The internal structure of the building is built around a central chapel in the archetypal shape of a house—man's first need. Around it residential and support functions are distributed, symbolically organizing the community around the hope for a better tomorrow. The chapel, made of wood, is connected to the dining space.
This was one of the most important considerations, such space was missing from previous Warsaw shelters. Now the space is flexible. It's especially important on Sundays, when guests from the neighborhood come to attend mass together—the entire chapel is opened to the common room. After mass, the gates are closed and you can watch TV series in peace," the designers explain.
first floor plan
© XYstudio
The rooms, separate for men and women, are partly equipped with medical beds for the bedridden. Community reigns, the stronger ones take care of the weaker ones. On the first floor are isolation rooms necessary during viral infections, a rehabilitation room, as well as a doctor's office and a treatment room. In the back, facing the garden, are hidden the kitchen and dining room. Upstairs are more rooms and a staff apartment—each has a tiny bedroom with a private bathroom and a shared living room with a kitchenette.
axonometry
© XYstudio
A garden has been created adjacent to the building, which opens onto a large sunny terrace. The interiors are kept in light tones, made in an overly economical way. The walls are white so that they can be easily repainted. The floors contrast in accordance with the principles of universal design. Communication is clear. The interior is also decorated with a mural by Marcin Czaja.
cross sections
© XYstudio
