Maggie's London, Hammersmith, west London, England
2008
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners


photos : Speirs and Major Associates / James Newton

RIBA Stirling Prize winner lit by Speirs and Major Associates

22 Oct 2009

For the fifth time in nine years lighting consultant Speirs and Major Associates has been involved in the winning Stirling Prize project, which for 2009 is Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre at London's Charing Cross Hospital by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

Maggie's Centres, run on a charitable basis, offer information, counselling and support for cancer sufferers.

'Maggie's is particularly special to us given the role of the charity and the support they provide. It is an exquisite building and we are proud to have worked on it,' said Mark Major, director of Speirs and Major Associates' London office, which designed the interior and exterior lighting for the project. 'We would like to think that, through creating the right atmosphere and image after dark, the lighting has also made some contribution to the overall success of the project and to the enjoyment of those who use the building.'


photos : Speirs and Major Associates / James Newton

About the Lighting
The aim of the low budget lighting scheme was simplicity - a lot of the work is carried out by volunteers so complicated controls were avoided - and to create a comfortable, domestic-style ambience. High-quality Louis Poulsen fittings were used throughout, with additional linear up/downlighting in the first-floor administration areas providing both task lighting and a glow to the elegant floating roof. The building is very sustainable with extensive use of natural daylight and low energy sources.

Speirs and Major Associates was also responsible for lighting a second Stirling Prize shortlisted project this year, London office building Aldermanbury Square by Eric Parry Architects.

Cancer caring centre based at Charing Cross Hospital

Location: Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith

Maggie’s Centre London

Stirling Prize Winner 2009

Description by Adrian Welch, e-architect editor:

Despite its humble scale the London Maggie's Centre brings great comfort and help to those suffering from cancer. Whilst I firmly believe the state should be providing this quality of health provision and building I fully support Maggie's Centres for not only filling the void with sensitive support but for commissioning a series of really good architects. This building has obvious quality - simple articulated forms, red-coloured rendered walls providing warmth and solidity. it is one of an increasingly long list of Maggies Centres by celebrated architects. The Client is surely due a special award.


photo © Maggie's Centres

Maggie’s Centre

Information from the RIBA:

How can a building can generate an immediate sense of welcome, serenity and even love on a frantic Hammersmith thoroughfare and in the shadow of a dauntingly huge NHS hospital? RSH’s quietly confident Maggie’s Centre building is unquestionably a haven for those who have been diagnosed with cancer. Their achievement is in having created a completely informal, home-like sanctuary to help patients with cancer. Conceived as a two-storey pavilion, the architects have sheltered the centre from its harsh surroundings with a thick and cheerful orange masonry wall that also serves as a backdrop for carefully planted tree groves and gardens. The Maggie’s Centre's positive spirit is signalled with a roof canopy that oversails its many intimate internal gardens and courtyards.


photos © Maggie's Centres

Maggie’s Centre London - Building Description

Information from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners:

The London Maggie’s Centre needed to create its own sequence of internal and external environments – a welcoming beacon in this busy London streetscape.

Maggie’s Centres offer support for people affected by cancer at any stage, be they patients, family members or friends. Their work is in complete support of conventional medical treatment.

Maggie’s Centre London, at Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith, is conceived to contrast with the main hospital building. It is a ‘non-institutional’ building, an ‘open house’ of 370 square metres, arranged over one and a half floors. It is both flexible and adaptable. It can be transparent or opaque, noisy or quiet, light or dark, with a kitchen at the heart of the structure. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners hopes to create something that is more than a house – more welcoming, more comfortable, more thought-provoking and more uplifting.

The Maggie’s Centre entrance is approached from within the hospital grounds. The building is made up of four components: a wall that wraps around four sides, providing protection from its exposed location; the kitchen – a single-height central space which will be the main focus and heart of the Maggie’s Centre building; annexes off the main space, conceived as meeting, sitting and consulting rooms; and a ‘floating roof’ that oversails the outer wall and acts as the enclosure to the heart of the building. Small courtyards are formed between the building and the wall.

The landscaping strategy knits together the existing hospital and the new Maggie’s Centre. Wrapping the building with trees will filter the noise and pollution of the surroundings whilst providing a leafy backdrop from the inside.

Maggie’s Centre London - Building Information

Place: London, England
Date: 2001-08
Client: Maggie’s Centres
Cost: £2m
Gross Internal Area: 370m²
Architect: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Structural Engineer: Arup
Services Engineer: Arup
Quantity Surveyor: Turner & Townsend
Landscape Architect: Dan Pearson Studio
Lighting Consultant: Speirs and Major


Maggie’s Centres : Buildings across the UK - information + images


Awards

Stirling Prize Winner
2009
Civic Trust Award
2009
Judges’ Special Award for Primary Care Design, National Building Better Health
Care Awards
2008
FX Award Public Space category
2008
Hammersmith Society Environment Award
2008

London Buildings

Chelsea Barracks - previously by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

Maggies Centre London : further information