Last week Thomas Heatherwick unveiled his design for a Maggie’s cancer-care center in Yorkshire, England, Dezeen reports.
The design resembles a collection of plant-filled pots, aimed to take advantage of the therapeutic effect of plants. Once completed, which is scheduled for 2017, the Yorkshire location will join 18 other Maggie’s Centre branches that have been designed by prominent architects including Snøhetta, OMA, and Richard Rogers.
"Instead of taking away the open space, we wanted to make a whole building out of a garden," Heatherwick told Dezeen about his plan. "The design developed as a collection of large planters defining the building by enclosing a series of shared and private spaces between them."
Though all centers are drastically different, they all have “healing power” in common. Architecture columnist Matt Hickman writes in the Mother Nature Network, “Maggie's Centres provide ‘practical, emotional and social’ support to cancer patients and their families in joyously non-clinical environments that could easily be described as architecturally stunning: bold, beautiful, uplifting, challenging, welcoming, the antithesis of drab and oppressive."
Hickman adds that the well-designed buildings “[instill] patients and their loved ones with a sense of optimism and positivity,” instead of inducing boredom and dread.
The Yorkshire location is planned to offer psychological support, benefits advice, nutrition workshops, relaxation and stress management, art therapy, tai chi, and yoga.
To complete the verdant plan, Heatherwick will work with landscape designer Marie-Louise Agius of Balston Agius.
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 24, 2017
AIA selects seven projects for Healthcare Design Awards
The facilities showcase the best of healthcare building design and health design-oriented research.
Accelerate Live! | Jul 6, 2017
Watch all 20 Accelerate Live! talks on demand
BD+C’s inaugural AEC innovation conference, Accelerate Live! (May 11, Chicago), featured talks on machine learning, AI, gaming in construction, maker culture, and health-generating buildings.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 29, 2017
Uniting healthcare and community
Out of the many insights that night, everyone agreed that the healthcare industry is ripe for disruption and that communities contribute immensely to our health and wellness.
Industry Research | Jun 27, 2017
What does the client really want?
In order to deliver superior outcomes to our healthcare clients, we have to know what our clients want.
Building Team Awards | Jun 8, 2017
Quick turnaround: Partners HealthCare
Silver Award: A 2½-year project brings Partners HealthCare’s sprawling administrative functions under one roof.
| May 30, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Health-generating buildings, Marcene Kinney, Angela Mazzi, GBBN Architects
Architects Marcene Kinney and Angela Mazzi share design hacks pinpointing specific aspects of the built environment that affect behavior, well-being, and performance.
| May 24, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Learning from Silicon Valley - Using SaaS to automate AEC, Sean Parham, Aditazz
Sean Parham shares how Aditazz is shaking up the traditional design and construction approaches by applying lessons from the tech world.
Healthcare Facilities | May 16, 2017
University of Pennsylvania’s new $1.5 billion hospital is being built with the future in mind
The Pavilion broke ground on May 3.
Healthcare Facilities | May 4, 2017
Mortenson provides details about its first building in Minnesota’s ambitious Destination Medical Center development
One district alone could add two million sf of commercial and residential space to Downtown Rochester.
Healthcare Facilities | May 1, 2017
Designing patient rooms for the entire family can improve patient satisfaction and outcomes
Hospital rooms are often not designed to accommodate extended stays for anyone other than the patient, which can have negative effects on patient outcome.