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Range 477/801 - Emotion and colour in architecture
Inspiring planning ideas for the furnishing of healthcare buildings and daycare centres: HEWI has developed emotionally appealing colour concepts for its design icon – the 477/801 barrier-free sanitary range.
Design icons convey that special must-have feeling. They make an impression, are still desirable after decades and, with only a few modifications, appear as young, fresh and innovative as on the first day. It is not easy to create a design icon. HEWI, the expert for barrier-free sanitary solutions and hardware, has succeeded at least twice: with the legendary 111 polyamide lever handle, which has written architectural history as an original of everyday culture. A similar status has been achieved by the first barrier-free sanitary range that HEWI launched on the market in the 1980s and has continuously developed since then: the 801 range, also made of high-quality polyamide. In supplement to the accessories of the 477 range, it is available from HEWI as a barrier-free classic under the designation 477/801. These are products that support movement and compensate for limitations: support rails, hinged support rails, shower head rails, shower handrails, folding seats as well as accessories and much more.
The HEWI 477/801 range is a design icon and meets all accessibility requirements
Planners in architecture and interior design appreciate the 477/801 range, which has won several design awards. In its versatility and modularity, it is predestined for use in healthcare buildings and child day-care centres or kindergartens. In the bathroom, it offers a consistent design option in terms of shape and colour and meets all accessibility requirements.
Colour touches – a tribute to the classic
With three new colour concepts, HEWI has succeeded in giving the 477/801 range a different look that appeals to the senses. Colour moves on an emotional level, creates atmosphere, brings authenticity and individuality to interiors. For HEWI, colour is elementary in adapting a design icon that is virtually perfect in terms of design and function to current trends and in increasing the scope for design in planning. Maintaining icon status has a high priority at HEWI, so there are three new colour editions for the 477/801 range. The new tricolour colour canon for healthcare buildings in the care sector comprises the vitalising shades coral, aqua blue and pure white. HEWI presents the editions apple green, may green, coral as well as aqua blue, steel blue and apple green especially for nurseries and kindergartens – soft, calming and harmonising tones.
The targeted use of colour makes it possible to influence the feeling of well-being in a room. In healthcare facilities and daycare centres, colour therefore plays a special role in promoting recovery processes, conveying a feeling of security or creating a relaxing and stress-free environment. In recent years, a discussion has been initiated on this subject under the concept of "Healing Architecture", which is highly relevant for HEWI as one of the leading international experts in the field of barrier-free sanitary fittings. Thus, the interaction of people and their surroundings as well as the healing and regenerative aspects of design have been incorporated into the colour concepts of the 477/801 range.
HEWI colour concepts stimulate the senses and provide orientation
The interplay of the different components and their accentuation through the new colour edition of coral, aqua blue and pure white creates an atmosphere in the room that is stimulating and vitalising. At the same time, colour has a signalling effect. If a product is highlighted by a colour, the colour accent signals its utility and supports intuitive use. This is an important aspect, for example, when people no longer have unrestricted vision and require better orientation by means of colour-accentuated products. For all these reasons, the Tricolor Edition is particularly suitable for the care sector, especially healthcare buildings.
Children experience space differently to adults
The colours tailored to the field of education – kindergartens and daycare centres – have a friendly, relaxing and harmonising effect with their soft, natural tones. In these rooms, where people play, do sports and eat together, etc. all day long, the materials used required a certain robustness and easy-care properties. Just as in doctors' surgeries or clinics, it is hard to avoid having the interior design in facilities of this kind looking rather sober. HEWI shows that it can also be more emotional. A child experiences space differently than an adult. “Planners have to adapt to this with regard to the dimensioning of the rooms and components as well as the fixtures and fittings, especially in sanitary rooms”, is the conviction of architect, professor and publisher Natascha Meuser, who deals with good architecture for educational buildings and especially for kindergartens.
Healing architecture leads to higher acceptance and satisfaction
This expertise is important for HEWI. Constant dialogue with experts from the fields of sociology, psychology and architecture is therefore part of the corporate culture. On this basis, HEWI gains insights that have an impact on product development in a specific spatial context and publishes, among other things, interviews and guest articles in the HEWI MAG, the digital magazine on interior design with a focus on universal design.
Christine Nickl-Weller and Hans Nickl are also concerned with the health-promoting aspects of architecture: "Healing Architecture can ultimately benefit everyone involved in the care sector. For patients and their families, healing architecture means improved conditions for getting and staying healthy. For staff in healthcare facilities, it means more efficient processes and a safe, stress-reducing working environment. It is also of benefit for the operators of health care facilities, since a higher level of acceptance and satisfaction, both for the staff and the patients, will represent an important advantage in view of the shortage of qualified nursing staff and the increasing pressure of competition among hospitals," explain Christine Nickl-Weller and Hans Nickl, who discuss this in a guest article in HEWI Mag and have written the standard work "Healing Architecture".
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