Page 87 - AIT1124_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design Marlies Rohmer, NL-Amsterdam
Bauherr • Client Maggie‘s NL
Standort • Location Vrijdemalaan 15, NL-Groningen
Nutzfläche • Floor space 567 m 2
Fotos • Photos Ronald Zijlstra, NL-Groningen
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 126

MAGGIE’S CENTRE

IN GRONINGEN

Architecture is not able to cure illnesses, but it can be
“balm for the soul” and thus have an effect on the hea-
ling process, as several studies have already shown.
The so-called Maggie’s Centres, named after Maggie
Keswick Jencks, are designed with this in mind. They
offer people with cancer a point of contact to find a way
to deal with their illness in a comfortable environment.

W hen Scottish writer, artist and garden designer Maggie Keswick
Jencks (1941-1995) was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to
process the news in a dark hospital corridor, she made a decision then
and there: She wanted to create a place for cancer patients that was far
removed from such a grim and sobering environment – a place where pati-
ents and their families would not only receive free psychological support
and any medical advice they might need, but also find a sense of security
and hope. The first Maggie’s Centre was established in Edinburgh in 1996
on the initiative of her husband, the architect Charles Jencks (1939-2019)
and located directly opposite the hospital where Maggie was treated.
There are by now around 20 Maggie’s Centres in various places around
the world and designed by architects such as Zaha Hadid, Rem Kool-
haas, Frank Gehry, Snohetta, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Kisho
Kurokawa, among others. The light-flooded, almost 600-square-metre
wooden building is located in the park of the University Medical Center
Groningen (UMCG) and forms a small oasis, surrounded by a blooming
garden designed by landscape architect Piet Oudolf. The building itself
was designed by Marlies Rohmer Architecture & Urbanism and includes
open-plan areas designed with the intention to encourage encounters
between patients and their relatives. These areas include various seating
options and a kitchen that opens onto a terrace through a large glass
front. Separate rooms, on the other hand, provide the opportunity to
retreat for one-on-one and group conversations, as well as for yoga or tai
chi classes. Corridors were avoided throughout the entire building. The
staff area is located on the upper floor, which is designed as an open
gallery. Natural materials – glazed wood and polished pebble-stone floors
– bright colours, plenty of daylight, feel-good furniture and loving details
such as wooden door handles, which are more pleasant to touch than
metal for sensitive people, create a noticeably life-affirming atmosphere
in the building. And it is precisely this that reflects the basic idea that was
so important to Maggie, who said: “The most important thing is that we
Grundriss • Floor plan do not lose the joy of life through the fear of dying.”

AIT 11.2024 • 087