Berlin-based dan pearlman has completed the Elise Island project, the transformation of a children psychiatric clinic, in the German capital. The clinic is called ‘Evangelisches Konigin Elisabeth Krankenhaus’ (KEH) and has created a holistic dreamland for young patients with psychiatric issues. Each room was designed in terms of shape, color, materials, light and air, with the aim of promoting a positive atmosphere of security and shelter, empowering children’s imagination and positive emotions.
The design of a modern therapeutic environment, ‘patient friendly’ is the priority of our concept, we expect that a reference project has been created.
The director of the KEH, Dr. Rainer Norden
+ Project description courtesy of Diana Nóbrega
ELISE ISLAND PROJECT: USING DESIGN FOR HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENTS
The ‘Evangelisches Konigin Elisabeth Krankenhaus’ Hospital, in Berlin, created a holistic dreamland for young patients with psychiatric issues in cooperation with dan pearlman creative agency.
The patients of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the ‘Evangelisches Konigin Elisabeth Krankenhaus’ Hospital (KEH) in Berlin will never feel alone again. In addition to doctors and nurses the youngsters are, since October 2009, hosted by Princess Elise. She is the protagonist of the story told to the children when they arrive at the institution: when she was young, Princess Elise invented her own island, with golden sand, palm trees, rocks that kiss the waves and shelters where she could rest when she needed to. Here she was always safe. Now as a grown-up lady, Elise does no longer need to live on the island and therefore dedicated it to her young patients in the hospital.
The legend was created and transferred to reality by the German creative agency dan pearlman, who worked closely with the hospital’s psychiatrists and doctors to develop a holistic approach to a new communication and spatial concept. The ‘Isle of Elise’ project is based on a concept where design and architecture play a central role, thus forming a completely new approach to child and adolescent psychiatry.
Each room in the hospital was designed in terms of shape, color, materials, light and air, with the aim of promoting a positive atmosphere of security and shelter, empowering children’s imagination and positive emotions. The new concept meets the demands of young patients and therapeutical staff at the same time. The obligations of therapeutic professionals and the emotional needs of young patients are now balanced.
And the response has been positive: According to KEH psychiatrists and doctors, the young patients are more calm and sensitive and the level of aggression amongst adolescents has been significantly decreased.
The original objectives and the results that we see now fit perfectly.
Alexander Eberle, project manager of dan pearlman
It is the first time that the agency is involved in a social sphere project. Gathering a group of designers, architects and experts in communication and strategy, the company is generally directed to the development of brands and brand architecture. This time, dan pearlman used its experience to make KEH hospital “shine, with the values and behavior of a brand”.
The dan pearlman professionals noted, from the outset, that this perspective on design can be adapted to other scenarios in which the environment influences the development and healing process of the children involved, for example in kindergartens or social institutions.
Companies should engage in social responsibility, the design should not only focus on good looks, but on doing good.
Alexander Eberle
The value of colors and symbols
The ‘Isle of Elise’ jumped from sketches to a spatial plan divided into three units: the ‘Sandburg’ (sand castle), dedicated to the smallest patients, the ‘Palmenhutte’ (palm hut) for pre-teens and the ‘Klipper’ (clipper ship) for adolescents.
The youngest patients, between three and six years, find their homes in the “sand dunes.” ‘Kalle’, the crab, becomes their mascot, colors like blue, beige and orange dominate areas for playing and relaxing thus creating a protected and cosy atmosphere.
Children between seven and thirteen are in the green zone, the ‘Palmenhutte’. This area is overflown by ‘Coco’, the parrot. Metaphorically, this influences young people to take risks, to value their skills and reach new heights.
The teenagers, between thirteen and eighteen years, have the ‘Klipper’ reserved. Here the character mascot is ‘Rocko’, the dog. His friends, the teenagers, will become his fellows. His character represents the search for independence and individuality.
The story that is been told to the young patients is a genesis of symbols, mascots, colors, an intelligent room layout and communication concept based on the knowledge of doctors and shaped and constructed by the skills of architects and designers. Its use in clinical environments has a multitude of benefits: it promotes the sense of direction and motivation, in the case of green, helps to heal, such as orange, or reduce stress levels in the case of the blue.
The design of a modern therapeutic environment, ‘patient friendly’ is the priority of our concept, we expect that a reference project has been created.
The director of the KEH, Dr. Rainer Norden
The design role
The ‘Isle of Elise’ project was since the beginning a very important project for dan pearlman due to the fact that children with special needs and problems are involved. Especially since statistical studies indicate a rise in suicidal behaviors, anxiety, eating problems and psychological disorders resulting from abuse or neglect younger children. dan pearlman supported the project and will be pleased to further encourage child-friendly designs and environments.
Design does have to have sustainability. With actual issues such as economic crisis and climate change, among other problems, it is quite obvious that there is a need for improvement for the society we have created for ourselves. At the same time, our world reaches a whole new era of design, creating a new role for companies, with endless opportunities to improve society. This new role does not substitute traditional ones, but rather works side by side, creating and opening new fields of activities. It gives designers the opportunity to create networks with individual people, enterprises, non-profit organizations, local and global institutions that together generate tangible steps to sustainability and balance. Lets start thinking on how a specific system can be improved using design-thinking as the key. Creativity is an attitude that can certainly be used as a social resource.
+ Project credits / data
Design: dan pearlman
Project: Elise Island project for Evangelisches Konigin Elisabeth Krankenhaus (KEH)
Location: Berlin, Germany
Photos: diephotodesigner.de
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