Maggie's Leeds

Maggie’s, a charity that provides free practical and emotional support for people affected by cancer, commissioned the studio to create its new centre on the campus of St James’s University Hospital in Leeds. The brief was to create an inspiring home that visitors from varied backgrounds would 'not have dared build themselves'. As well as serving 110 visitors a day, the studio also wanted the centre to preserve the hospital’s only green space by making it more accessible and enjoyable to experience. Set in the midst of medical buildings, the site was one of few green spaces left on the campus. The studio decided to preserve and accentuate this space by creating the structure out of the garden itself, raising up the planted surface. Understanding that the kitchen should be the ‘heart’ of the centre, this informed the programming of the space with more social areas for group activities including a library and exercise room surrounding the kitchen. By designing three 'planters', each of these encloses a private counselling room for visitors to meet or spend time by themselves. The rooftop garden is inspired by Yorkshire woodlands and features native English species of plants, alongside areas of evergreen to provide warmth in the winter months. Inspired by Maggie Keswick Jencks’ love of gardening, visitors are encouraged to participate in the care of the 23,000 bulbs and 17,000 plants on site. Maggie's Leeds is designed to help the people who come to the centre for support to feel better, like a home from home that's designed to feel nothing like a hospital. Drawing upon the philosophy of Maggie's and the belief that great design can help people feel better, Maggie's Leeds uses several 'healthy' materials and energy-saving techniques. The building's structure is built from a prefabricated and sustainably-sourced spruce timber system. Porous materials such as lime plaster help to maintain the internal humidity of the naturally-ventilated building, which has been achieved through careful consideration of the building's form and orientation. The interior of the centre explores everything that is often missed in healing environments: natural and tactile materials, soft lighting, and a variety of spaces designed to encourage social opportunities as well as quiet contemplation. The studio has also designed two tables, inspired by the building's timber fins and built from cork and engineered beech timber, which reside in the heart of the centre.