A groundbreaking ceremony yesterday marked the beginning of construction for the new Maggie's Centre Barts that's coming to Northeast London next year. The 18 Maggie's Centres across the UK offer free practical, emotional and social support for people with cancer and their loved ones. During the ceremony, a large banner thanking everyone involved in the project was unveiled on site and a time capsule to be opened in 2065 was compiled -- in tradition with every Centre that is built. The capsule consisted of a signed watercolor print from Steven Holl, framed Hong Kong bank notes from British bank institution HSBC, and archive materials from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.

The new Centre will be built on a 725 m2 site within the richly historic grounds of the 12th-century St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London's oldest hospital. With Steven Holl commissioned for architectural design in association with UK firm JM Architects, the Barts Centre will be a more vertical "vessel within a vessel within a vessel" as described by Steven Holl Architects, in comparison to the horizontal forms of most Maggie's facilities.

The 3-story structure will feature a branching concrete frame with an inner layer of perforated bamboo and an outer layer of matte white glass. The outer layer is accented with colored glass fragments, in reference to "neume notation" of 13th-century Medieval music.

"The word neume originates from the Greek pnevma, which means ‘vital force.' It suggests a ‘breath of life’ that fills oneself with inspiration like a stream of air, the blowing of the wind. The outer glass layer is organized in horizontal bands like a musical staff while the concrete structure branches like the hand," SHA describes in a press statement.

Ample natural light shining through the colored fragments will create a warm atmosphere in the building's spacious interior, which will be lined in perforated bamboo. "The glass facade geometry, like a musical 'staff' is in horizontal strips 90cm wide, which follow the geometry of the main stair along the north facade, while lifting up with clear glass facing the main square, marking the main front entry. There is a second entry on the west opening to the extended garden of the adjacent church."

The Barts Centre will then be topped out with a public roof garden that provides space for meetings and group activities. Another public garden designed by landscape architect Christopher Bradley-Hole will surround the building at ground level.