About the buildings
Maggie's Glasgow Gatehouse
Maggie's Glasgow Gatehouse opened in Autumn 2002 following an Appeal supported by Glasgow Evening Times to raise £500,000 to match funding provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland. It is located in a converted late Victorian red brick gatehouse at the entrance to the Beatson Oncology Centre. It forms part of the Kelvingrove complex on Dumbarton Road.
About the architect and design
The conversion design was by David Page of the Glasgow-based firm of architects Page \ Park. Keeping the original facade and as much of the interior as possible, David has created a welcoming contemporary house that can adapt to the needs of the people who visit it to use aspects of the programme.
You enter through a covered doorway into the open-plan kitchen and library area. The library sits at the foot of what was once a stairwell and is flooded with shafts of warming sunlight created by an atrium that extends to the roof.
Leading off from the kitchen is a small sitting area that can be closed off for one-to-one sessions.
Up a few stairs takes you into a light and spacious lounge that has full-length windows on the far wall that look out onto a garden area.
Going on through from the lounge takes you into the relaxation room that is used for group sessions and also looks out onto the garden.
To find out more about Page \ Park please visit their website: www.pagepark.co.uk.
About the garden
Where possible the rooms look out onto a garden that contains a sculpture called 'DNA' by Charles Jencks, the designer and husband of Maggie Keswick Jencks.
In the summer these spaces can be enjoyed by visitors who wish to take a few quiet moments for themselves.
To find out more about Charles Jencks please visit his website:
Maggie's Glasgow Gartnavel
Maggie's Glasgow Gartnavel opened on Monday 3 October 2011, having been funded by Walk the Walk's Edinburgh Moonwalkers who have the £2.7million needed to build a second Maggie's Centre in Glasgow.
About the architect and design
“We accepted the commission with eagerness. I don’t think it should be a building that challenges people to live better; rather it should have a direct effect on the people who use it. The space we have is great because it is linked to the existing hospital, but far enough away from it for us to create another world. It has both privacy and a central position; both sheltered and slightly exposed. The centre will have a holistic feel and hopefully will provide respite and comfort for people.”
Rem Koolhaas of OMA
The Pritzker Prize winning architect, Rem Koolhaas of OMA, has designed a single-level building in the form of a ring of interlocking rooms surrounding an internal landscaped courtyard.
Seemingly haphazardly arranged, the building is actually a carefully considered composition of spaces responding to the needs of a Maggie's Centre. As opposed to a series of isolated rooms, the building is designed as a sequence of interconnected L-shaped figures in plan that create clearly distinguished areas – an arrangement that minimises the need for corridors and hallways and allows the rooms to flow from one to another.
The plan has been organised for the spaces to feel casual, almost carefree, allowing one to feel at ease and at home; part of an empathetic community of people.
About the garden
Lily Jencks, daughter of Maggie’s Founders, Maggie Keswick Jencks and Charles Jencks, will design the internal courtyard plantings and the wooded glades areas surrounding the centre.
