Berlin Evangelical Geriatric Center Care Ward
New model room with HCL system
Project scope
Patient Rooms, Standard Care
key data
Horizontal Medical Supply Units: S700 Lighting Solutions: Schyns Biologic Health LightPhotography Evangelical Geriatric Center
Hospital and patient room are not very often associated with coziness. Especially in the private care sector, there are precise ideas about what the modern patient room should look like. This often leads interior architects to decide not to resort to products that are already available off the shelf from medical device manufacturers. But this is exactly where the danger lies. When planning, it should be noted that it should ultimately be a medical device that has been tested according to very strict guidelines. In the case of the new model room at the Evangelical Geriatric Center Berlin, there was initially the idea to develop a carpentry solution as a pre-wall system. However, this would have led to some very complex, mandatory tests and also to problems.
Project insights
Fine lines: The Schyns S700 was used as a horizontal medical supply unit. It can be harmoniously integrated into any patient room design – in straight-lined new buildings as well as in stylish old buildings. Another focus was placed on the light. Here the new Human Centric Lighting System from Schyns was used.
In several discussions we were able to convince the customer not to develop everything new, but to use a mix of individual solutions and standard products. The room has a great influence on the well-being and recovery of the patient. The products create spaces of calm. Likewise, they merge with the architecture into a unity, an integrativ spatial concept that visually calms the hospital room – with maximum functionality and ergonomics for patients and staff.
Light defines the room, makes it experienceable. Space and light are inseparably connected. Light not only has a visual effect, but also an emotional and biological one: Human Centric Lighting (HCL) supports human health, well-being and performance. US researchers Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young have been deciphering since the 1980s which mechanisms control circadian rhythms. In 2017 they received the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology. Over the course of a day, the intensity and spectrum (and thus also the color temperature) of natural light change continuously. If the midday sun vitalizes with its invigorating blue tone, the evening sun calms with a pleasantly warm reddish coloring. For humans, their well-being and all associated biological processes, natural daylight is the decisive reference.
Light works on several levels: Light has a visual, emotional and biological effect. If HCL is used, the light quality in the room improves in many respects. Even today, HCL systems are used in care facilities. Especially in terms of brightness, no compromises were made. The melanopsin-containing photoreceptors in the human eye react particularly strongly to blue light. However, the natural clouding of aging eyes is a process that reduces the melanopic effect. Therefore, there are only two ways to counteract this: to become brighter and to use colder light colors. All this is perfectly combined in the HCL system from Schyns. The nursing staff also benefit from the new system, as it has a special examination lighting with a COI (Cyanosis Observation Index) of 1.7 and a CRI of 97. These facilitate the visual task on the patient. Classic HCL systems are based on a 2 LED chip technology with 2,500 K and 6,500 K light color. To avoid an unwanted melanopic effect in the evening hours, the illuminance would have to be reduced with such a system. However, this would be counterproductive in terms of fall prevention. This is where the Schyns 3-channel HCL system plays its trump cards. It covers a temperature range from 1,800 K to 16,000 K, where each color channel (red, green and blue) can be controlled individually and additionally the illuminance can be maintained. Thus it is consequently also possible to achieve no unwanted melanopic effect, i.e. the blue component can be reduced or isolated. This is particularly important for melatonin production before bedtime.
The concept also paid attention to energy efficiency and sustainability. Due to the wide light color spectrum, significantly less energy has to be used to achieve good melanopic effectiveness. This saves resources and energy, which is one of the expensive running costs especially in health and care facilities. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most common eye diseases that increasingly deteriorates vision with advancing age. Research is also currently being conducted in this area. The Schyns HCL system can be modified at any time so that the "right" light color can be used. Sometimes people perceive the brightness as too intense due to the high light output. To make seeing in old age experienceable during viewing, a so-called simulation glasses from Age Suite was used. Afterwards, everyone agreed that "too bright" is always in the eye of the beholder. To distribute the light pleasantly on the ceiling, it was decided to integrate the light also in the specially developed TV board. The patient also has the option to switch on special television lighting via the nurse call. Another benefit is the special night lighting that does not disturb the patient. Installation also ensured that there are not too many interfaces. The HCL control is already pre-installed and programmed in the factory. Thus, no time-consuming and costly programming has to be carried out after installation.
This project involved the use of ...
S700
As a horizontal medical supply unit, the Schyns S 700 integrates harmoniously into any patient room design - in clean-lined new builds just as well as in stylish period buildings.
fine lines
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