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WAVE 4 and 5, ECR Health Care Complex

Selected in Architectural design

Wave 4 & 5 completes the ECR Health Care Complex in Sopot, 400 metres from the Baltic Sea. The client's brief was unusual: the buildings should not feel like a hospital. Grounded in the idea that people recover more readily when they feel safe, the design delivers pre- and post-procedure care, rehabilitation and specialist therapy within spaces that feel intimate rather than institutional. Medical technology stays concealed, and each of the 44 patient rooms is individually composed, with bespoke furniture and handmade wicker light shades by Polish artist Jacek Wydrzyński carrying a living craft tradition into the rooms. Full accessibility opens it to all. The project gives back to its city, Sopot. Built on degraded brownfield, once an informal landfill, it reclaims the land as a central Seaside Garden of native dune vegetation, opening a public path from Polna Street to the retention reservoir. The planting heals as well as greens: aromatic thyme lines the walkways, respiratory-easing species climb the lower walls, and as blue-green infrastructure it retains and filters rainwater on site, recharging Sopot's groundwater. The wave-form facade, inspired by Pierre Carreau's seascapes, carries a perforated "Flower of Life" pattern, an ancient healing symbol echoing Sopot's ornamented timber facades. Refined at 1:1 scale, its shutters admit daylight even when closed. Here, architecture educates by example: proof that healing, ecology and city-making can be a single gesture.

Participant category: Small company (< 10 employees)

Company name: FAAB

Country: Poland

Location: Sopot, Poland

Client: Invicta Sp. z o.o

Team: FAAB is a Warsaw-based studio of architects and designers, steered by founders Adam Białobrzeski and Adam Figurski together with its Creative Director. The team practises architecture, urban design and interiors across public and private sectors.

Edition: 2026

Project status: Realised

Website: https://faab.pl/en/

Photo credits: Jakub Certowicz
Photo credits: Jakub Certowicz
Photo credits: Jakub Certowicz
Photo credits: Dario Breggiè
Photo credits: Jakub Certowicz
Photo credits: Jakub Certowicz