Maggie's Centre, Lanarkshire,
UK

Daylight enhancement, beautifully supported by welcoming artificial light.
Client
Maggie's Centre
Architects
Reiach and Hall
Landscape Architects
Rankin Fraser
Photographer
Speirs Major Light Architecture
 
Project Team
Carrie Donahue Bremner, Dave Morris

Having previously worked on the Stirling Prize winning Maggie’s building at Charing Cross (RSH+P) and the Maggie’s in Newcastle by Edward Cullinan Architects, we were ideally placed to collaborate with architects Reiach and Hall on the design of the daylighting and artificial lighting for the eleventh Maggie’s, located in Lanarkshire.


The multiple award-winning design is a long low brick pavilion set within a walled garden. It is designed to connect deeply with its surroundings, offering a progression of landscape, texture and light from the entrance path to arrival court, through the sequence of interior spaces and courtyards to the far end walled garden.


We proposed the idea that a centrally positioned object could provide surfaces for natural light to land on, bounce off, and graze through. These surfaces would reflect light deeper into the spaces and provide a focal point with the rhythm of the architecture.”



Having conducted a series of studies to analyse the level of penetration, we evolved the idea into the elegant, highly polished and perforated gold structures that have come to be known as ‘geode light catchers’.




The brief for the artificial lighting called for enough flexibility to cope with multiple tasks in these adaptable spaces, as well as supporting a domestic level of comfort.



To mark the progression through the building, the design focuses on highlighting the major architectural and landscape interventions. We integrated light such that it frames vistas, drawing visitors into and through the building, while reinforcing the connection between inside to outside. Warm light washes the timber surfaces to bring out their inherent warmth, with a second layer of domestic furniture style pieces contributing to a homely atmosphere.