Maggie's Centre at the Western General Hospital is the inspiration of the late Maggie Jencks who's vision was for a place cancer sufferers could go to get help and solace as well as access to independent and alternative sources of advice and treatment. Activities range from single and group counselling, beauty therapy, yoga and relaxation but above all the centre is a social meeting place where experiences can be shared.
The brief was, to a degree, indeterminate, and developed through close liaison with the client. The design aimed to create firstly an atmosphere of domesticity (in contrast to the institutional nature of many National Health Service buildings) and secondly, to create as much accommodation as possible within the limited volume available and to make it transformable in its spatial division; the centre is capable of being combined into a series of progressively larger spaces or divided into individual rooms.
The building consists of the original conversion of a disused stable building completed in 1996 and later extensions completed in 2001(see phase II).
Externally the construction is viewed as a building within a building with a new inner language of steel, lead, glass, glass blocks and timber sliding behind stone. When the extension was commissioned this existing language was extracted in both directions to continue the language.
Link to Cancer Caring Centre, Phase II
| Architects | Richard Murphy, Ed Hollis, Oliver Chapman |
| Engineers | David Narro Associates |
| Contractor | Peter Walker |
| Construction Cost | £128,000 |
| Client | Maggie Keswick Jencks Cancer Caring Trust |
Awards
- RIBA Award 1997
- RIBA/Department of Health National Award 1997
- RIBA Stirling Shortlist 1997
- EAA Conservation Award 1996
Press
| Maggies's Friends | The Herald Magazine | 29 March 2008 |
| Why Are The World's Best Architects Drawn To Maggie's Centres? | The Herald Magazine | 29 March 2008 |
| Comfortable Surroundings | Prospect | March 1997 |
| Murphy's Centre For Cancer Care | Architects' Journal | March 1997 |
| Dealing With Cancer In A Relaxed With | Sunday Times | 30 March 1997 |
| Patients Support Centre In Edinburgh | Detail Magazine | September 1997 |
| Four In Race For Top Prize | Project Scotland | 9 October 1997 |
| Stirling Short List | Building Design | November 1997 |
| Design & Conquer - Stirling Prize | Sunday Times | 2 November 1997 |
| Murphy Carries Scottish Hopes - Stirling Prize | Project Scotland | 6 November 1997 |
| Stirling Prize | Architects' Journal | 6 November 1997 |
| Healthy Building Syndrome | Scotland On Sunday | 14 Decemeber 1997 |
| Maggies Centre | Scottish Fields | April 1998 |
| Maggies Centre | South East Asia Building | May 1998 |
| Murphy In Frame For "brooker" Of Building | The Scotsman | May 1998 |
| Maggies Centre Lancet City Wins Top Award - Ccc | Evening News | 13 November 1998 |
| Building Bravery - My Favourite Building | Prospect Magazine | December 1998 |
| Building Humanity Back Into Hospitals | The Scotsman | 28 July 1999 |
| A Vision Of The Future | Evening News | 10 September 1999 |
| The Gehry Effect | Livewire | April / May 2001 |
