INTERIOR DESIGN OF PROTESTANT CHAPEL AT STATE HOSPITAL IN GRAZ

• Interior Architecture
• Interior Design
• Lighting Design

The FRACTAL CHAPEL situated at LKH Graz and hosted by the Protestant Church, serves patients, medical workers, and visitors as a prayer and retreat room. Spanning 35 square meters and featuring a double-height ceiling and a one-sided room-high glass facade, this sanctuary follows fundamental religious scenography with its low entry area, revealing an 8-meter-tall space. Aiming to create a comforting, warm and relaxing atmosphere for retreat, tranquility and recreation in a demanding hospital environment, the interior combines several biophilic design strategies – natural light, materials and patterns. Alongside the existing walls, a perforated screen unwinds spirally – an allegory of the human life cycle. Simultaneously concealing functions and facilities such as the sacristy, multimedia equipment, and building technology. The cut-out wall panels allow natural and artificial light to filter into the space, conveying time and motion and adding expressiveness paired with serenity and silence. The pattern enveloping the chapel was developed in a transdisciplinary collaboration with product design studio 13&9 Design and Prof. Richard Taylor (University of Oregon / Fractals Research). Fractals are the building block of many of nature’s patterns and have been scientifically proven to reduce stress, improve well-being and expedite healing. Taylor´s studies examine humans’ positive psychological, physiological, and neurological response to fractal patterns. The visual complexity generated by their harmonic repetition triggers a natural relaxation effect, with people’s stress levels reducing by 60% when looking at fractals. To further emphasize the interplay of spiral, light and fractal patterns, the material range is kept minimal by adding solely a wooden ceiling, flooring, benches, and an altar, contributing to the warm tonality with its earthy materiality. With its focus on health and well-being, this chapel creates an inspiring and relaxing environment, seeking to enhance hope and tranquility in a sever location like this surgery clinic. The altar in the middle of the space, created by artist Manfred Erjautz, crafted from the upside-down rootstock of a walnut tree, serves as a unique centerpiece, evoking the roots of life, deeply anchored in the unseen soil of the space. The transformed rootstock comes from a former cemetery site that is now used as a kindergarten playground and tells a profound story of change, transience and shifting levels of meaning. Surrounded by fractal surfaces and set in scene by a sophisticated lighting system, this altar invites moments of silence and contemplation. A place that contrasts the hectic pace of everyday life with the timeless vitality of nature.  

• project name: FRACTAL CHAPEL
• function: Healthcare, Public
• location: Graz, AUSTRIA
• client:
  • KAGes - Steiermärkische Krankenanstaltengesellschaft m.b.H.
• floor space: 35 m²
• number of floors: 1
• project team:

  • Oliver Kupfner,
    Martin Lesjak, Jörg Kindermann, Lisa Nett

• photographer: Paul Ott