- Client: Maggie Keswick Jencks Cancer Caring Centres Trust
- Sector: Healthcare
- Region: North West
- Services: McAlpine Design Group, Construction Management
- Completion Date: 2016
Innovation 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.
Our engineering experts overcame the complexities of this timber and glass pavilion, designed by Lord Norman Foster, to deliver Maggie’s at The Christie in Manchester.
Maggie's centres are run by expert staff who provide a full programme of support to help people live well with cancer. The centre at Manchester is open to all cancer patients and friends and family of patients who are receiving treatment at The Christie or elsewhere in the region.
Our early involvement allowed us to provide buildability and financial advice, while our extensive contribution to the design development process which continued throughout the project showcased our adaptability and willingness to innovate.
Project summary
Our early involvement allowed us to provide buildability and financial advice, while our extensive contribution to the design development process, which continued throughout the project, showcased our adaptability and willingness to innovate.
To drive value for our client and help provide financial surety, we worked hard from the outset to reduce variations at the end of the project. We made sure that the packages and scope of works were robust and that the various contractors had considered the works from every angle and understood the interfaces.
On such an architecturally driven scheme, scrutinising the minutiae of every specification and finish and extensive prototyping and modelling have been key to meeting the project’s exacting standards. This has meant intense collaboration with the various disciplines involved.
The timber frame is a prime example. We worked closely with Fosters and timber frame supplier Blumer-Lehmann on the unusual design, which is formed from 17 linking glulam lattice trusses.
The glulam sections are made up of four layers of Kerto plyboard, the middle two of which feature a lattice cut and shaped using a 7-axis CNC router. Critically, the layers are arranged with the grain in specific directions to give the finished product its strength.
Project Manager Mike Rider said, “This type of glulam has never really been done before. It’s remarkably complex in the way the timber is working.
Maggie’s Manchester won the Chamber of Commerce’s Building of the Year, the Structural Award and the “winner of winners” Arnold Laver Gold award at the Wood Awards, and the 2017 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards, in the healthcare category.
Maggie's Cancer Care Centre at The Christie, Manchester
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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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 aboutWork begins on Maggie's Northampton
09 Aug 2024Construction has begun of a new Maggie’s centre at Northampton General Hospital, the latest in a series of projects delivered for the cancer support charity.
