Maggie's centres

Maggie's is an organisation that provides free emotional, physical and social support for people and their families with cancer. They are built on NHS grounds and have professional staff ready to offer good support for people affected by cancer. The centres are named after Maggie Keswick Jencks who lived with advanced cancer for two years. During that time she used her knowledge and experience to create a blueprint for a new type of care. Maggie’s Centres are built around her belief that people should not “lose the joy of living in the fear of dying”

Maggie’s centre - Nottingham

The Maggie’s centre in Nottingham is very successful as it has a lot of reviews telling of how nice a place it is, that it is a retreat for people affected by cancer. The way it has been designed helps contribute to this. It has a simplistic green oval design. The soft colour and soft edges portray it as a calm environment, like what it should be. I feel that it is a successful centre as from its aesthetics it fills the description of what a centre like that should look like.

Maggie’s centre - Kirkcaldy

The Maggie’s centre in Kirkcaldy is designed by Zaha Hadid and so is a very modern and original design. It is all in black and features sharp edges and shapes making it a very unique building. Despite this, I do not think that its aesthetic necessarily matches its purpose. Because of how it looks, rather than soft and comforting I'd say it looks more daunting and even intimidating. On the other hand it could fit the brief for a Maggie centre as it could be a nice retreat for someone who appreciates its architectural style and so could be relaxing in that way.

The Maggie’s centres are designed as an escape and so people can spend their last times with their loved ones in a relaxing environment so that they aren’t thinking about their horrible if not potentially terminal illness.

References:

-https://www.maggiescentres.org/