A new cancer care centre run by Maggie's has opened at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow.
The faciliity has been designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. It uses light and space to foster a pleasant environment. The building at Gartnavel is a single-level building with interlocking rooms encircling an internal landscaped courtyard.
The landscaping around the centre was the brainchild Lily Jencks, the daughter of Maggie Keswick Jencks, Maggie's founder. Lily said "Designing the centre has provided a strong connection to my mother and my hope is to have created a unique and joyful design in her memory."
Maggie developed breast cancer in 1993, which then spread to her liver, bones and brain. She was a strong believer that a well designed centre would assist patients' recovery and began work on the first Maggie's centre following these principles. It opened in Edinburgh 15 years ago, a year after her death.
There are a total of 15 Maggies' centres across the UK. The Gartnavel facility is situated near to the Beatson Institute, Scotland's leading oncology centre, and will work alongside the original Maggie's Glasgow at the Western Infirmary. This year sees Maggie's celebrating their 15th birthday.
Maggie's Chief Executive Laura Lee said "Maggie's Gartnavel has been made possible through a unique partnership with Walk the Walk, whose tenacious Edinburgh MoonWalkers take to the streets of Edinburgh each year in wonderfully decorated bras to raise money to support cancer charities"
