- Client: Maggie Keswick Jencks Cancer Caring Centres Trust
- Sector: Healthcare
- Region: South East
- Services: McAlpine Design Group, Construction Management
- Completion Date: 2020
Enabling Maggie’s to support cancer care at The Royal Marsden
Careful planning and meticulous collaboration were key to the successful delivery of this design-led scheme on a busy working hospital site.
Constructed on a former hospital car park, Maggie’s Royal Marsden is a peaceful and biodiverse place for people to drop in during and after treatment for free support and care.
Maggie's centres are run by expert staff who provide a full programme of support to help people live well with cancer. Working in partnership with The Royal Marsden, a world-leading cancer centre specialising in cancer diagnosis, treatment, research, and education, this Maggie’s Centre further enhances the patient care on offer at the Sutton site.
The building was conceived to complement the excellent services of the hospital, providing a calm oasis set in a peaceful garden, somewhere to escape to and take strength from. It was recognised as a European Healthcare Design Champion, as an inspirational building that positively influences future healthcare design and development.
Project summary
Designing with comfort and connection in mind
Visually distinctive and with a home-from-home feel, the development is designed to feel nothing like a hospital.
This supports Maggie’s ethos that great design and architecture can help the people who visit its centres feel better and help their expert staff to give the best possible cancer support.
Private rooms for counselling and therapy have skylights to allow natural light in while giving the users privacy. Instead of institutional-style corridors, rooms fan out from a central, double-height kitchen space. A range of comfortable, private spaces for quiet reflection nestle just off this welcoming communal area, with a long dining table at its centre encouraging people to come together for connection and support.
Tactile materials like Douglas Fir, Birch ply and Harris Tweed, along with soft furnishings, art and books create a relaxed, domestic environment and the balcony above maximises views and fosters a sense of community. Nothing is fixed or defined; the space and its finishes encouraging visitors to take time to drift, daydream and explore.
The dynamic garden inspires, changing dramatically with the seasons. The woodland garden includes native trees and hedges for privacy, creating a calm and contemplative atmosphere. Paths have been designed for ambling, restorative walks.
To achieve these extraordinary designs at a high quality within budget, our project team provided buildability and financial advice well in advance. Our teams start by scrutinising the plans in minute detail. Transforming vision into reality, we stay true to the architect’s vision while keeping construction lean, efficient and collaborative.
Looking after the patients
Avoiding disruption to the hospital’s day-to-day operations during the build was a must. With exemplary communication and a friendly face turned toward the public, we made sure our construction work went almost unnoticed.
It was particularly important for us to make sure that our construction traffic didn’t impede access to the site for staff, visitors, deliveries and emergency vehicles. We worked closely with subcontractors during the tendering process to plan out logistics and make sure they knew how important it was to keep disruption to a minimum.
Maggie's cancer care support centre, Royal Marsden, Sutton
Find out more about our partnership with Maggie's
Our corporate partnership
It’s more than a decade since we started working with Maggie’s, as well as constructing many of its centres, we've raised more than £1,000,000 for the charity.
Maggies Cancer Care CentresEngineering Excellence for Maggie’s first Cancer Care Centre in Wales
Our expertise overcame a challenging design to deliver this unique healthcare project at Singleton Hospital, Swansea.
Maggies Cancer Care Centre SwanseaInnovation key to delivering Maggie’s at The Christie
Our construction knowledge and know-how was key in helping realise the complex architectural vision for Maggie’s at The Christie in Manchester.
Maggies Cancer Care Centre, ManchesterHeritage and complex projects expertise delivers Maggie’s Barts
Our Special Projects delivered this technically complex healthcare project within live hospital campus and protected it’s Grade I listed neighbours.
Maggies Cancer Care Centre BartsEnabling Maggie’s to support cancer care at The Royal Marsden
Careful planning and meticulous collaboration allowed us to complete this design-led scheme on a busy working hospital site.
Maggie’s Royal MarsdenA truly extraordinary building for Maggie's Yorkshire
Built amongst a cluster of medical buildings at St James’ University Hospital in Leeds, Maggie’s Yorkshire is a cancer care centre like no other.
Maggie's Cancer Care Centre, YorkshireDelivering award winning Maggie's Southampton
Our Special Projects team delivered this verdant ‘New Forest’ inspired Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres at Southampton’s General Hospital.
Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre, Southampton
Maggie's in the news
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Read more aboutFundraising efforts adds new bricks to our virtual Maggie's centre
29 Aug 2024Latest fundraising efforts from our colleagues around the business have added five new bricks to our virtual Maggie's centre bringing us closer to our 100,000 hours for Maggie's goal.
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Read more aboutHelp Ryan fulfil his late mum's fundraising goal for Maggie’s
13 Aug 2024Ryan Armstrong and a team of fundraisers from our M6DBFO team are taking on Ben Nevis to help raise £100,000 for the cancer support charity.
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Read more aboutMaggie's Southampton wins RIBA South Award
03 Jun 2024Congratulations to our project team who worked on the Maggie’s cancer centre in Southampton, which has been recognised at the RIBA South Awards.
