The Soteria Berlin is a new therapy offered by the University Psychiatric Clinic of the Charité at the St. Hedwig Hospital, which is focused on treating younger patients suffering from Schizophrenia spectrum disorder. The ward itself was developed as an interdisciplinary project between psychiatrist and architect in close cooperation. The central objective in designing the Soteria was to deinstitutionalize the space. Instead of a functional, sterile, and sometimes frightening “hospital-space,” an alternate environment was designed, offering patients intuitive orientation, a measured balance of stimulation and richness, and calmness, safety, and homeliness. In this way the therapeutic processes of the Soteria are supported, among other elements, by the immediate effect of a specially developed and designed space – Atmosphere as a therapeutic agent.

This atmosphere is generated through the interaction of a multitude of design details. For example, the choice and distribution of colours sets a focus on the interplay between color and light. Thus, highly chromatic and reflective colours have been applied in small but strategically chosen locations, generally in close relationship to natural or artificial light sources. This and other atmospheric mechanisms operate phenomenologically on the perceptive level of the patients, thereby supporting the therapeutic goals of the team.