Foster + Partners Maggie’s Cancer Centre Manchester

Maggie’s Cancer Centres are all over the UK, providing welcoming residences where cancer patients feel right at home even when they have to travel far from their usual homes for treatment. The project, based on an idea by architect Maggie Keswick Jencks, who died of breast cancer in 1995, and her husband, architect Charles Jencks, is based on the assumption that living in a well-designed building close to the site of treatment, in a place where patients can get the information, comfort and support they need, helps improve patients’ physical and emotional condition, making treatment more effective. The first centre opened in Edinburgh in 1996, followed by new buildings designed by big names on the world architecture scene such as Richard Murphy, Page and Park, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers, Rem Koolhaas and Oma, Reiach and Hall Architects. On April 26, 2016 a new centre opened in Manchester, on the grounds of Christie Hospital, designed by Foster + Partners.

The building is a single-storey residence with a central timber frame supporting the roof, with its triangular skylights. The image is that of a construction integrated into the garden and forming a part of it, fitting into Dan Pearson Studio’s landscape design. The centre’s functions are organised to combine different spaces together: intimate, private corners to sit in with a library, a gym and spaces for getting together and talking. The choice of materials contributes to creation of a cosy, familiar atmosphere, with use of natural wood and tactile surfaces, reinforced by the use of natural light and greenery and the presence of custom-designed furniture.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Design: Foster + Parners
Location: Manchester, UK

Images courtesy of Foster + Parners, photo by Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

www.fosterandpartners.com
www.maggiescentres.org

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