Cell-like Space for Rehabilitation

Wu Qingshan

Cell-like Space for Rehabilitation —— FULLJOY Postpartum Care Center in Shanghai

• Architects

Postpartum care center has a very specific program. It is the place to provide holistic care for a sensitive population -newborns and their mothers, and it is also their first home and start of a life journey. The challenge of our project is to integrate the needs of different users- moms, babies, family members and nurses- and pay close attention to their physical and mental health. Through better design, we aim to improve the operation process and create an uplifting living environment. Neuroscience research has proven that stress and anxiety can be reduced by gaining access to light and nature, and curved surfaces. Therefore, we try to adopt a design language of curved elements throughout the space in this project. It helps create a soft, smooth and fluid atmosphere that heals the heart and represents the lifelong bond between mothers and their children.

Situated at the very center of Shanghai, the project occupies the ground floor and fifth floor of a service apartment in a quiet neighborhood. The ground floor is designed as a semi-open drop-off area for the guest and serves as a natural transition from the street to the home. We hope it could reflect the spatial quality of the care center and at the same time engage the vivid lives of the street. The design celebrates the “emptiness”. Gently curved canopy and wall are painted white, shaping a soft boundary for the space, and becoming the canvas for the shadows of phoenix trees on the street.

The fifth floor consists of seventeen guest rooms and a central public area that covers reception, meeting rooms, a nursery room, postpartum treatment rooms, and a multifunction room. Different functional spaces in public area are put together in an organic pattern, taking the metaphor of the process of cell reproduction- the process of birth of life. All Corners are softened by curved walls to eliminate the feeling of sharpness and create fluidity, so that guests could glide into each “cells” easily when they walk along the walls. Openings are inserted in specific positions to provide interesting visual interactions between the “cells” and the corridor. The walls of “cells” are covered with white glazed ceramic tubes; their smooth surfaces glitter under the soft lights and bring vitality to the space. All the area that is accessible to infants is illuminated with indirect light to protect their eyes from glare.

The nursery is the place for the babies to take baths and swim, therefore water is the theme of design. The walls are covered with blue curved metal panels, and the ceiling with corrugated stainless steel panels, on which lights create a visual illusion of being underwater.

Guest room is divided spatially by translucent sliding partitions into two parts- the bedroom for mother and the activity zone for nurse and infant. The partitions function flexibly to different scenarios: they are opened during the day for better lighting condition, and closed at night to ensure a better sleeping environment for the mom as the nurse may frequently attends to the crying infant. A nursing counter, long enough to provide daily care for the infant is placed along the partition and integrates the wash basin and a baby’ bath tub.