The latest Maggie’s cancer support centre at Southampton General Hospital, by award-winning architecture studio AL_A, will formerly open next month. Maggie’s has 25 years of experience providing free cancer support and information to centers across the UK. The new center, which transforms a corner of the hospital site previously used for car parking, offers support for the hospital’s specialist oncology unit, serving a population of 3.2 million people in the region.
▼ Overall Of The Project
A woodland oasis set in the grounds of the hospital’s suburban campus, almost three-quarters of the site is given over to four distinct gardens that reflect the ecology of the nearby New Forest. Amanda Levete, Principal of AL_A, says, “We have imagined that a piece of garden has been transported from the New Forest into the midst of the hospital’s car park, bringing serenity and a bit of magic to the place.
▼ Aerial Top View Of The Project
The building emerges from this naturalistic landscape with almost ethereal clarity. The gardens are cut through by four walls that radiate from a large central space, defining more discrete spaces in each of the four corners. The building’s skeleton, which extends outside the building enclosure, is formed by the four blade walls made from ceramics. The earthiness of the clay colour roots the center to the ground. The four corners are clad in mottled stainless steel water ripple sheets, giving a dreamy reflection of the surrounding landscape, placing the garden front and center. The structure itself seems to disappear as it reflects the surrounding trees and planting.
▼ The Building Emerges From This Naturalistic Landscape With An Almost Ethereal Clarity
▼ Main Entrance Of The Project
▼ The Gardens Are Cut Through By Walls That Rradiate From A Large Central Space
▼ The Stainless Steel Water Ripple Sheet Reflects The Building And The Surrounding Natural Landscape
Sarah Price, a award-winning landscape designer and co-designer of the 2012 Gardens at the Olympic Park in east London, designed the garden. There is no doubt that observing nature has a positive impact on our emotions. The landscape is inspired by the New Forest and draws its healing power from the rich diversity of the Forest’s flora: wood anemones, orchids, wild garlic, lesser celandines, bluebells, and primroses, mosses, and ferns, growing in the woodland pathways.
▼ The Garden Turns Maggie’s Centre Into An Oasis Of Healing Magic
▼ Details Of The Ceramic Wall And The Stainless Steel Finishing
As in all Maggie’s centers, the kitchen table sits at the heart of the building; a skylight above brings daylight and sky views deep into the building. The private areas, including consulting rooms and quiet spaces, open onto the gardens through full-height glazed sliding doors that disappear into pockets on the walls, removing the boundaries between the landscape and building.
▼ The Kitchen Table Sits At The Heart Of The Building
▼ Full-Height Sliding Glass Doors Open To The Garden Blur The Boundary Between Inside And Outside
▼ Quiet And Healing Interior Atmosphere
Dame Laura Lee DBE, Chief Executive of Maggie’s, says, “I am absolutely thrilled with our newest center designed by Amanda Levete and her team at AL_A. They have beautifully interpreted our brief, and their exacting attention to detail has created a stunning building with large windows that flood the center with natural light. Their play on inside and outside space and close working relationship with landscaper Sarah Price has created a garden that will give people with cancer and our staff with views of greenery on all sides. Intimate rooms allow for privacy , while communal spaces bring people together around a kitchen table to share stories and support one another”.
▼ The Maggie’s Center In The Dusk
▼ Site Plan
▼ Floor Plan
▼ Section
▼ Construction Details
