CLIENT FILE 051
Left Maggie’s Royal Free by Studio Libeskind
Below The Rem Koolhaas site in Glasgow
Below At Barts, Maggie’s worked with Steven Holl
particularly liked his early work, which seemed a bit more playful. For us, a bit of humour is important.
It’s been wonderful and a real privilege to work with the architects and landscape designers we’ve worked with. Tey’re amazingly thoughtful individuals.
What qualities do you look for in a practice? Being interested in what we do. It’s a long project – we’ll have to raise the money – so they have to be in it for the long haul. Tey have to have the commitment.
It takes a true collaboration to get a really good building. You need to have a trusting relationship between architect and client. It’s important that clients really listen to their architect.
You now have 24 UK centres in a variety of architectural styles. Were you looking for diversity of expression rather than a recognisable house style?
took our time – with Norman Foster, for example, we waited until we had the right site, in Manchester (2016).
We’re not looking for an architectural statement. We’re interested in their response to the brief – an architecture that makes people valued and feel safe.
We don’t hold design competitions. Instead, we are always looking at different practices’ work to find out who’s interesting, and who would get the emotional context of the brief. And when we secure a particular site, we think about who would respond well to that. At Barts, for example (2017), it was a very difficult site and we chose to work with Steven Holl, who had a great track record in dealing with difficult lighting conditions and working close to listed buildings.
We aren’t particularly looking for people who have track records in healthcare. Niall McLaughlin, who is designing our Cambridge centre, had done a wonderful project for people with Alzheimer’s, but we
Charles Jencks had a very eclectic view about architecture, and I hope our body of centres shows that range. If they have anything in common, it’s that they’re all contemporary architecture.
What are the most challenging and rewarding parts of being a design client?
Te designing part is always wonderful. One of the benefits of working with a new architect each time is that it’s fresh and new for them, and also for us. Tey make us think about what we do anew.
You have to learn how to work with different architects, which can be an adjustment. Rem Koolhaas (Glasgow, 2011) was super fast and the building is amazing – so tender. He got the design in a flash. Other architects take their time, and you need to allow that. If you rush the design process, you can end up with something that’s not right. We’re currently working with Assemble (Kent). Tey’re a collective, so it’s a bit discombobulating. But we’re learning.
We’ve also learnt from experience that the more you can deliver the garden together with the building, the better the impact is.
You worked with Studio Libeskind for the latest Maggie’s at the Royal Free Hospital in London. How did that come about? We ‘d been in conversation with Daniel and Nina Libeskind for a long time about doing a Maggie’s. Te Royal Free (2024) was a very difficult site, a tiny wedge by a car park. It just felt like the right site and the right time to ask them.
What do you feel works particularly well at that building?
Te musicality of the building is what I like – it doesn’t fight with the surroundings and it’s so surprising. It has very few straight walls – people feel enveloped and welcomed when they come in, and they often comment about the quality of light.
Do you think there is a better appreciation nowadays of the healing power of architecture in healthcare settings?
I think so. Te ordinary person on the street does appreciate good design, although I’m not sure that’s acknowledged. But I do wonder who in government cares about the quality of civic buildings as places of pride and coming together – perhaps our best buildings are in the private and corporate world.
We keep doing the best we can with the budgets we’ve got, because we know how important the centres are to people. It’s a constant challenge.
Do you have any more developments in the pipeline?
We have quite a few centres in development, including Northampton (Stephen Marshall Architects); Cambridge (Niall McLaughlin); Kent (Assemble); Coventry (Jamie Fobert Architects); and Bristol (MUMA). And we’re doing lots of feasibility studies – there are 18 NHS hospitals that would like a Maggie’s.
HUFTON+CROW
LILY JENCKS
NAARO
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