Wednesday 5 August 2009

Maggie Centre by Zaha Hadid

Maggie Centre 1

The Maggie's Centre is in the grounds of Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. Zaha Hadid Architects was commision to provide a centre for people with cancer, which is not only domestic in scale but unique in execution.

The £1 million building founded by Charles Jencks and his late wife, Maggie Keswick, not only support people who are ill but also their friends, families and carers. They also provide counselling, information on cancer-related literature and an environment for people with similar experiences to meet.

'The design is Zaha's response to a brief set by Maggie's, which challenged her to create a relaxed and aesthetically uplifting environment. It is located on the edge of a hollow adjacent to the hospital. The hollow has a dramatic topography, which in combination with the natural foliage and trees creates a very distinctive protected environment in stark contrast to the other facilities of Victoria Hospital. The centre has been designed as a transition between the two different types of spaces - the natural landscape and the hospital.

Externally the form of the Centre derives from a folding surface and a connecting ground slab. The folding surface articulates a directional emphasis of moving the visitor into a different space from the rest of the hospital grounds.


By cladding the visible roof and two opposing walls with the same material and making the remaining elevations a mix of translucent and clear glass, the directional nature of this form is reinforced.'
- World Architecture News.Maggie Centre 2Maggie Centre 3
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Maggie Centre working modal
Maggie Centre detail 1Maggie Centre detail 2Maggie Centre detail 3
a+. zaha hadid architects via via

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