Interior Moments • Isabelle Farrokhnia

Healthcare Facilities & Hotels

Owing to the hygiene requirements health facilities often appear cold and impersonal. The flooring material, the colour of the walls and the low-energy or neon lighting are often alienating in comparison with the private atmosphere at home. In addition, the unusual noises and often acrid smells of disinfectant are in stark contrast to one’s private surroundings.

For me it is important to break this monotone, impersonal atmosphere and fill it with life. The patients ought to be able to go on a journey of discovery through the centre that is both functional as well as stimulating for the imagination.

Construction measures and design

Thematic images and spatial concepts lead convalescent people through the corridors, where taking a break and stopping is also part of it, and so mobility difficulties, for example, do not become unpleasant. The routes – naturally – are shortened, made easier and offer additional aesthetic elements. Apart from this, in this context it is also important that convalescents can regain their autonomy and that interior design can help them act independently.

I create a living design through regional references, through colour themes and playful, therapeutic elements. Series of pictures awaken the desire for nature. Discoveries and creative wall installations invite one to touch, guess and watch. Many measures can be used to find a more lively approach to everyday difficulties.

“Furniture with history”

As a structural contribution, for me it is also important to incorporate “furniture with history” into the facility. Furniture in which the past has left “traces” and “scars”, and which are then revitalised through an extensive and careful restoration process and reupholstering. They symbolise both the pleasure of existence and are an illustration of the personal recovery process. They stand for the fact that scars fade, that one does not have to be perfect, but can nevertheless be beautiful.

In my total design concept, therapy and decoration are combined in a creative and functional way. Many details and the knowledge of the specific requirements thus produce an atmosphere of security and individuality. They help to restore the joie de vivre and make it possible to cope with the demands of everyday life.
Alongside the special spatial concept (lighting concept, choice of flooring, colour concept) the “furniture with history” also lends the hotel establishments their own personality. These lovingly restored antique pieces of furniture symbolise the enduring, the lasting. In this way they help prevent a stay in a hotel from being like a pit-stop and instead turn it into a particularly lively and comfortable experience.

Hotels

During business or private trips, hotel visitors should feel at home as short term guests; not just in their room, but also in the lobby, in the breakfast room and in the corridors.

A total concept with reference to regional particularities turns the stay in the hotel into an experience – the hotel becomes an oasis where one is happy to stay, from which one draws energy, and feels the desire to explore the area, the town around the hotel, even if the stay is only a short one.