The first cancer support center opened in 1996 at the Western General Hospital complex in Edinburgh: architect Richard Murphy rebuilt the stable building for him. Since then, 6 similar centers have appeared in Scotland and England. The initiator of the creation of these institutions, Charles Jenks, who named them after his wife, who died of cancer, landscape architect Maggie Kezwick-Jenks (the program is based on her idea), invites prominent architects to cooperate (among them - Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers). The "star" name is especially good at drawing the attention of philanthropists to the program, which is vital: the only source of funding for both the construction and operation of Maggie Centers is donations from philanthropists.
But this is not the only reason for the special attention to the architectural side of the entire enterprise: according to Jenks and his colleagues, in this case, even the "too" unusual, amazing project acts as an "architectural placebo", raising the patient's mood, distracting him from heavy thoughts. Also interesting architecture, light-filled, spacious and at the same time cozy interiors have a positive effect on employees, who find it much easier to do their hard work in such a space.
Among the seven projects currently presented (23 in total) are the first British building by a Japanese architect - the Maggie Center at Singleton Hospital, Swansea, the work of the late Kisho Kurokawa, continued by ArBITAT architects. Its spiral-shaped volume of "rough" concrete is covered with a steel roof. Construction should begin this summer and end in autumn 2011.
Edward Cullinan made his project for the Maggie Center for Newcastle (Freeman Hospital) as "green" as all his work: solar panels and collectors for heating water will be installed on the roof, and the premises will be heated using a geothermal pump; the green roof and the embankment around the building will prevent it from overheating in summer. At the same time, the architect drew attention to an important problem of the program: women participate in it much more actively than men, although both suffer from cancer equally often. Therefore, the Center provides space for classes that are attractive to any person, regardless of gender: gardening (including planting on the roof and embankments, maintenance of green fences), gym, outdoor bowling, etc. The planned construction period is early 2011- early 2012.
Rem Koolhaas's design for Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow has already been presented to the public earlier; now it has been announced that construction will begin this summer and end in the summer of 2011.
The Maggie Center at Churchill Hospital, Oxford, designed by Wilkinson Air, is a lightweight structure on stilts set among trees (late 2010 - fall 2011).
Pierce Gogh of the CZWG bureau designed the center for the city hospital in Nottingham (late 2010 - late 2011) - a bright green rounded volume, reminiscent of a fairytale house.
Construction of the Maggie Center at Cheltenham General Hospital in Gloucestershire has been under way since September last year: the landmark, redesigned by Richard McCormack of MacCormac Jamieson Prichard, is due to open this summer.
The Maggie Center at Vishaw General Hospital, Lanarkshire, Scotland, will be designed by Neil Gillespie of Reich and Hall and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2012.
Jenks has already been reproached for giving too much importance to architecture when creating Maggie's Centers: if you create one typical project, its implementation will cost less than constant experiments, while the savings can be used to finance existing institutions of this series. But, in the opinion of his colleagues, the centers should not turn into "medical McDonald's", the whole program of their creation implies attention to a specific person, an individual approach, and a rejection of the impersonal functionalism of the national health care system. If we start typing these institutions, then it is possible that they can be transformed into an ordinary subdivision of oncological centers in large hospitals, which in essence does not differ from them in any way.
By 2015, one Maggie Center should have 2 million population; their activity is very relevant, because, according to statistics, every third Briton at some point in his life gets sick with cancer. Jenks believes that the work of the centers (completely free information and psychological support, recreational activities, etc. in a pleasant, "home" environment) must be used in the fight against other serious diseases, in particular, the cardiovascular system and Alzheimer's disease.
