Archinect - News

Studio Libeskind completes new Maggie's Centre design in London

2024-02-05T18:57:00-05:00

Studio Libeskind has completed work on its design for a new Maggie’s Centre cancer treatment facility at the Royal Free Hospital in north London.

The 4,886-square-foot design follows well-known contributions from Foster + Partners, Steven Holl, and Heatherwick Studio as an example of its client’s mission to provide patients with world-class settings in which to receive their care. The project is now the 24th Maggie’s Centre completed in the UK since 1996.

Photo: Hufton + Crow

The studio says its design is arranged for the free-flowing movement of patients and their caretakers while giving equal consideration to the needs for both privacy and socialization.

Photo: Hufton + Crow

In terms of building form, the Centre is curvilinear in contrast with the surrounding brick-and-mortar buildings on the NHS campus. The design was realized on a small plot that was once a parking lot. As such, its volume expands upwards from the ground floor clad in weathered timber panels and sheathed in glaz...

Heatherwick Studios completes its first healthcare project, a mass timber Maggie's Centre in Leeds

2020-06-18T17:38:00-04:00

Recognized for its serene garden landscapes and eye-catching architectural approaches, Maggie's Centre facilities have become known the world over for the medical care and calming spaces these facilities offer individuals and their families affected by cancer.

Following the institution's dedication to providing environments of healing and tranquility, British designer Thomas Heatherwick has recently completed a new Maggie's Centre located within St. James' University Hospital, in Leeds, England. The project is his firm's first healthcare facility.

Maggie's Centre Leeds. Image © Hufton + Crow.

Founded by designer Maggie Keswick Jencks and her husband Charles Jencks, the facilities are a testament to how these two individuals dedicated their lives to creating a health-focused designs. Maggie's Centers have been established throughout the UK; TheMaggie's Centre in Leeds will be the organization's 26th facility.

Maggie's Centre Leeds - Interior. Image © Hufton + Crow.

Maggie's Centre L...

Norman Foster's secret garden: a tour of Foster + Partners' Maggie's Center

2016-05-04T13:07:00-04:00

Cancer survivor Lord Norman Foster gave HRH Duchess of Cornwall a tour of his newly completed Maggie's Center in his hometown of Manchester at the cancer facility's official opening April 27th, showing her a design that emphasizes natural light and a connection to nature. This has lead to numerous sliding glass doors and walls throughout the rectilinear plan, as well as the intention to plant vines on the signature triangular timber frame. Additionally, each treatment and counselling room comes with its own private garden.

As Foster noted, "Our aim in Manchester, the city of my youth, was to create a building that is welcoming, friendly and without any of the institutional references of a hospital or health centre – a light-filled, homely space where people can gather, talk or simply reflect. That is why throughout the building there is a focus on natural light, greenery and views; with a greenhouse to provide fresh flowers, and an emphasis on the therapeutic qualities of nature and ...

Gehry-designed Maggie's Centre in Hong Kong opens doors

2013-03-08T13:34:00-05:00

The scheme is the charity’s first purpose-built international centre and is Gehry’s second building for the organisation, having also designed Maggie’s Dundee in Scotland. The surrounding gardens were drawn up by landscape architect Lily Jencks - the daughter of the organisation’s founders Maggie Keswick Jencks and Charles Jencks. Maggie’s Hong Kong has been ‘offering free support for anyone living with cancer including friends, family and carers’.

Behnisch Architekten wins Architectural Competition for Agora Cancer Centre in Lausanne

2013-01-24T19:33:00-05:00

Behnisch Architekten's Stuttgart office has won the two-stage architectural competition established by the ISREC Foundation (Swiss Institute for experimental cancer research) to create a new home for the AGORA - Cancer Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland. The AGORA - Cancer Centre exists specifically to bring together scientists and practitioners under one roof as part of a community of expertise. The opportunity for enhancing communication within the new building was a major focus of the competition. The project represents an outstanding architectural and programmatic challenge wherein integrating the building’s diverse requirements within an extremely heterogeneous and tight urban fabric places great demands on the design concept. The scheme of Behnisch Architekten was selected for its ability to address these concerns in a very holistic architectural yet functional way. Set for completion in 2016, the new Cancer Centre will accommodate 400 researchers and clinicians.

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First cancer treatment center in Rwanda breaks ground

2012-07-24T17:08:00-04:00

...the Butaro center, in the northern part of the country, will be the first to offer comprehensive care — including diagnosis, chemotherapy, surgery, follow-up treatment, and palliative care.

MASS Design Group is partnering with the Rwandan Ministry of Health (MOH) and Partners in Health (PIH) to build the first permanent cancer treatment center in Rwanda. With the help of Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation funding inpatient facilities, the new Cancer Centre for Excellence will be the first facility of its kind to bring state of the art care to Rwanda, provide access to cancer treatments, and host robust training programs through a partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Facility-based cancer registries in Rwanda revealed a total of 3,430 diagnosed cancer cases between 2007 to 2011, among which 320 were children under the age of 15. Before this year, cancer care was sporadic, with no integrated treatments available without leaving the country. The new center will be the national referral site for cancer, providing a full spectrum of cancer care.

Rwanda has long valued developing comprehensive programs while building infrastructure. Cancer care training start...