The Maggie Centers, a charity project of Charles Jencks, are being built at hospitals in the UK with the largest oncology departments to complement their functionality with psychological and informational support for patients and their loved ones. The projects are being carried out free of charge by prominent architects including Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, with a common goal of creating a “homely”, safe space, as opposed to faceless hospital corridors. There, those who wish can have tea, get advice from a nutritionist, psychologist, etc., take part in a yoga class or just relax.
Unlike most of Maggie's other centers (named after Jenks' wife, landscape architect Maggie Kezwick-Jenks, who died of cancer), the building at St. historical surroundings. The oldest London hospital was founded in 1123, together with its own Great Church of St. Bartholomew. Along with this Norman-style church, the 17th century building designed by James Gibbs, where, among other things, a staircase with paintings by William Hogarth was preserved, was also a neighbor of Stephen Hall's building.
This architectural context caused difficulties in agreeing, but the restrained appearance of Maggie's new center still allowed him to receive a building permit. It is a three-story building with a frosted glass facade lined with horizontal stripes - like a music staff. Colored inserts should remind of the medieval system of recording music - deranged notation, and the architect plays up the origin of the word "nema" from the ancient Greek "pneuma" - life force. The musical theme is due to the great role of the Church of St. Bartholomew in the history of music.
The entrance is highlighted as if by a raised "hem" of a matte facade, under which a part of transparent glass is revealed. The interior is lined with bamboo, but the concrete structure with its finger-like supports is also open to the view. At the very top there is a terrace and a large hall for gymnastics, meetings and any other purposes.
