a design that offers protection, like an embrace. A place to take shelter and to escape the hustle and bustle of the hospital. Patients, families and employees can come here for reflection, serenity and consolation. The retreat takes the visitors’ diversity and their different religious and cultural backgrounds into account.

Harmony with surroundings

Daylight enters through the apertures in the roof like a ‘heavenly light’. The gable walls, rising at an angle, make their way up like a dynamic spiral. The small vertical strips of light on the plastered interior walls are visual representations of the bark of a birch tree. The outside of the building is clad in wooden shingles. As such, both the interior and the exterior of the silent retreat are is in natural harmony with the surroundings.

Extraordinary ambiance

The silent retreat has extraordinary lines and a special ambiance. Its entrance is in the central hub of the hospital. From there, the Islamic room and a general area can be accessed. In the middle of the space is a central piece of furniture that has the shape and appearance of a birch tree trunk. It houses a washroom on one side anda small storage space on the other. The outside of the piece resembles a tree trunk, of which the ‘bark’ is clad invertical wooden slats. People can leave notes wedged in between the slats containing their emotions, creating a wall of wishes and memories. There are wooden openings in the wall of the piece where people can place small books, cards or art objects.

Nature at the core

The elements of water, light, earth and air are at the core of the design. This is evident from the natural stone floor, the water that babbles over cobbles, the starry blue sky made up of 1001 LED lights and the seating elements that are made to look like boulders.