For my 6th blog Task I will be looking at Maggie centres, Maggie Centres are a network of drop-in centres in Great Britain, which intend to help people who are affected by cancer. They are not intended as a replacement for orthodox cancer therapy, but more as a caring environment that can offer support, information and practical advice. Maggie Centres have become a new way for architects to show off their work for a good cause.
When I was looking at the different Maggie centres with the United Kingdom. I found two Maggie Centres that had caught my eye. Which are the Maggie Centre in South West Wales and the Maggie Centre in London.
South West Wales
The Maggie centre in South West Wales was designed by the late Kisho Kurokowa, who unfortunately passed away before the building was built, but his design came to life, thanks to co-operation of architects Garbers & James. This Maggie centre is situated in Swansea at the Singleton Hospital.
Kisho Kurokowa based his design on the concept of a cosmic whirlpool, signifying a strong symbol of life, with endless forces swirling around a still centre. The spiral sections of the building conceptually absorb different parts of earth and water, separated by shafts of warm light. Therefore the idea provided a figure for the formation of both the interior and the exterior of the building. The central part of the building which has oval shape provides a calm, warm social heart to the building, with the extensions and connected external terraces providing more personal and focussed space from which to contemplate the landscape. The Centre is situated, next to woodland, on the Singleton Hospital site, which provides an excellent view.
Kim Wilkie was given the task to design garden. Due to the location of the Maggie Centre the building is very quiet, calm and peaceful. The building has a lot of a greenery around it and the garden has a very subtle shape and design which complement the building. The gardens have been designed to attract wildlife, give a natural and relaxing feel with a fully functioning allotment being situated on the premises. There is also a good seating areas for the vistitors to enjoy the building and the gardens.
When I was looking at the different Maggie centres with the United Kingdom. I found two Maggie Centres that had caught my eye. Which are the Maggie Centre in South West Wales and the Maggie Centre in London.
South West Wales
The Maggie centre in South West Wales was designed by the late Kisho Kurokowa, who unfortunately passed away before the building was built, but his design came to life, thanks to co-operation of architects Garbers & James. This Maggie centre is situated in Swansea at the Singleton Hospital.
Kisho Kurokowa based his design on the concept of a cosmic whirlpool, signifying a strong symbol of life, with endless forces swirling around a still centre. The spiral sections of the building conceptually absorb different parts of earth and water, separated by shafts of warm light. Therefore the idea provided a figure for the formation of both the interior and the exterior of the building. The central part of the building which has oval shape provides a calm, warm social heart to the building, with the extensions and connected external terraces providing more personal and focussed space from which to contemplate the landscape. The Centre is situated, next to woodland, on the Singleton Hospital site, which provides an excellent view.
Kim Wilkie was given the task to design garden. Due to the location of the Maggie Centre the building is very quiet, calm and peaceful. The building has a lot of a greenery around it and the garden has a very subtle shape and design which complement the building. The gardens have been designed to attract wildlife, give a natural and relaxing feel with a fully functioning allotment being situated on the premises. There is also a good seating areas for the vistitors to enjoy the building and the gardens.
London
The Maggie Centre in London, which was designed by Rodgers Stirk was opened on the 29th of April 2008. The location is not ideal for a Maggie Centre as Maggie Centres should be in peaceful and serine area, which is not the case for this Maggie Centre. This is situated on the corner of Fulham Palace Road. The reason I chose this Maggie Centre is due to the fact of how the design of the centre still fulfils the brief of what Maggie centres should be and provide it in such a challenging location.
The Building is Orange in colour and has a roof that looks like it is floating above it. There are Stone sculptures and wooden benches to sit along the winding path to the front door, which provide a welcoming and pleasant atmosphere. The building was designed on a domestic scale, the centre has everything that one would need in a Maggie centre, with the heart of the building being a double-height kitchen, which leads to 3 sitting rooms, library, courtyard gardens and a number of other personal or private conversation rooms. The building is designed in such a way that light fills the interior which comes through the glazed walls on the first floor and through the opening in the roof. The building is fairly quiet despite it being on a busy main road. The birch trees and well insulated walls protect harsh and loud noises from coming into the building. The interior has birch-faced ply and concrete finishes and furnishing, Paolo Lenti rugs and furniture by Alvar Aalto make the building have that extra relaxing feel and atmosphere.
Each Maggie centre varies from one another in looks, with the
Architects and landscape architects being given the liberty to work from an architectural brief. The brief states that “ We want the ethos and scale to be domestic,”, “We need to think of all the aspects of the hospital layouts, whichreinforce ‘institution’- corridors, signs, secrets, confusion –and then unpick them”. Due to the brief being so vague the architects have the chance to show off their ideas. Maggie centres are all made to have a warm, calm and peaceful environment for the visitors and patients. They are all supposed to have a welcoming feel and should be an appealing place for patients to come to. The interior of the centres should be a comforting, warm and be a sanctuary to the patients. The patients should be able to go to the Maggie centres and feel free, to forget about their problems and most importantly relax. All the facilities are well strategically designed to make cancer patients and their visitors feel safe and to feel at home, (in some cases better than home due to them not being comfortable due to the illness).The Maggie centres are all well designed and prepared to help the patients as much as they can. The centres all have a number of windows to try and utilise the natural light, which is very good for the patients. Some of the architects have had difficult locations and restrictions to work with but they all have turned out well and have fulfilled the briefs.
The Maggie centres all try make the visitors feel just as welcome and relaxed as the patients are. This makes less people be afraid to come to Maggie centres and to show that Maggie centres are there to help. The charity has been getting a number of awards and donations to its cause. The London Maggie centre won the RIBA Sterling price, in which the architects donated the winning £20,00 to the charity. I think the charity is doing a wonderful job and I think the idea behind the Maggie centres is wonderful.
References:
- [accessed online]: http://www.bmj.com/content/333/7582/1304
- [accessed online]:http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/stirling/-maggies-centre-charing-cross-hospital-london-by-rogers-stirk-harbour-partners/5205568.article
- [accessed online]:http://www.architecturetoday.co.uk/?p=20771
- [images accessed online]:https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=swansea+maggie+centre&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=eWdoU--zF8GdOpabgOgE&ved=0CFQQsAQ&biw=1517&bih=693&dpr=0.9#imgdii=_
- [images accessed online]:https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=london+maggie%27s+centre&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=4mZoU7OCHMqSOsnpgfgH&ved=0CFYQsAQ&biw=1517&bih=693&dpr=0.9
- https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Maggie's+Centres+(London+Office)/@51.482491,-0.223421,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x48760faff12a3ff9:0x5c842d7453b4adaf [maps accessed online]:
- [maps accessed online] :https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Maggie's+Swansea/@51.610663,-3.987585,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x486e8b313f2e086f:0x23ce233005f67ad8