Design of the Room of Silence
The Paul Gerhard Diakonie hospice accompanies seriously ill and dying people on their final journey. The prayer room - the Room of Silence - offers guests, relatives and staff a place of peace and reflection. We designed a new room utilization concept for a former hospital room, which consists of a main room and an adjoining sanitary room.
Main room
A specially designed, arched bench dominates the main room. It offers space for quiet contemplation and also serves as a seat for small devotions. A round altar, designed and built by Berlin artist Klaus Zolondowski, is at the center of the devotions. This altar takes up the theme of Jacob's dream of the ladder to heaven. A circumferential band of steps made of grey cardboard strips symbolizes the ladder to heaven as a connection between God and man. Four glass lenses set into the wall with underlying pictograms complement this theme.
The adjoining retreat room
The adjoining former sanitary room was transformed into an additional retreat by installing a small bench. The head wall of the room is completely pigmented in a blue-green hue, inspired by Lucas Cranach the Elder's portraits of Katharina von Bora, the wife of Martin Luther. The coloring, which varies from emerald green to turquoise, is particularly striking in Cranach's works. A small fountain set into a side wall enhances the meditative atmosphere of the room. In addition, two further glass lenses are set into this wall, showing reproductions of Cranach's portraits of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora.
Color and material concept
The walls and the entrance door of both rooms are designed in a tinted white. The floor is covered with Forbo plastic flooring in a concrete look, which conveys calm and simplicity. The ceiling of the main room was suspended and kept in the same color as the walls. Cross-shaped linear lights are integrated into the ceiling, which gently illuminate the room.
