Maggie's backs HB Architects' design for Liverpool cancer care centre

Maggie's CEO Laura Lee has defended its upcoming cancer care centre in Liverpool following criticisms about the design, saying the charity remains "committed to creating amazing spaces".

Lee told Dezeen that Maggie's remains dedicated to its goals of using quality architecture to create centres that support people living with cancer, in response to criticisms of the design of a Maggie's Centre at Royal Liverpool Hospital by UK studio HB Architects.

"We continue to be committed to creating amazing spaces that deliver the highest possible quality, professionally delivered cancer support," she said.

"Genuinely thought the designs were an April Fool"

Lee's comments came following questions from architecture critics and others on social media platform X about the standard of design for the Royal Liverpool Hospital centre, which was recently submitted for planning approval by HB Architects.

"Genuinely thought the designs for the new Maggie's Centre in Liverpool were an April Fool," wrote architecture critic Phineas Harper.

London Society director Robert Fiehn questioned what Maggie's co-founder Charles Jencks, who passed away in 2019, would have thought of the design, to which architecture critic Edwin Heathcote replied, "He would not have allowed it".

Maggie's has commissioned some of the most high-profile architects since opening its first centre in 1996, including Franky Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster.

HB Architects' design for the Maggie's Centre at Royal Liverpool Hospital is a two-storey building made from red bricks, which is being funded by UK charity the Steve Morgan Foundation. The foundation also funded a Maggie's centre in the Wirral, which opened in 2021, and will fund another in north Wales.

"We remain committed to creating great spaces"

The form and appearance of Maggie's Centres vary wildly from one another, but they are all designed to the same brief – to create welcoming buildings at a domestic scale, with a communal kitchen as the main hub and a garden space.

On its website, the Steve Morgan Foundation said that the Maggie’s Centre in the Wirral was delivered in "the most cost-effective way" and "at much lower cost than would have been possible" if the foundation was not involved.

Lee maintained that all centres funded by the foundation and designed by HB Architects follow the same brief as other Maggie's Centres.

"Cost is always a consideration when we build our centres, as we are a charity and all costs have to be covered by public donations," said Lee.

"Our architectural process is always an ongoing discussion between ourselves and the architect as we find ways to make the design meet the brief and budget, but we remain committed to creating great spaces and the professional support we provide."

The Steve Morgan Foundation commissioned HB Architects to design all of the projects it is funding, making the studio the first to design three Maggie's Centres.

Typically, a new architect is commissioned for each new Maggie's Centre, but some architects have designed two.

Page\Park designed centres in Glasgow and the Highlands, Dow Jones Architects designed an interim Cardiff centre as well as a new one planned for the city, and Frank Gehry designed centres in Hong Kong and Dundee.

"Fundraising is always an incredible challenge"

Lee said the Steve Morgan Foundation's contribution is helping the charity respond to the increasing need for cancer care centres across the country.

"Our ambition is always to reach as many people living with cancer as possible," said Lee. "Fundraising is always an incredible challenge, and fundraising for multiple centres at any one time is even more demanding."

"Maggie's generally has at least five new centre developments live at any one time, and as the demand from the NHS for our centres increases, we need to be able to respond."

"Almost 10 years ago, the Steve Morgan Foundation recognised we needed to 'move faster' and, incredibly, made an offer to Maggie's to design, commission, build and fund three Maggie's centres in the north west," Lee continued.

"This incredible donation has enabled us to ensure the people of north Wales and Merseyside get the support they need at possibly the hardest time of their lives."

In an interview with Dezeen last year, Lee spoke about Maggie's history of commissioning high-profile designers and the media attention it brought when the charity was starting out.

The charity's most recent centre is a curving building by Studio Libeskind, which opened last year. Maggie's has also recently received planning permission for a timber centre in Cambridge by Niall McLaughlin Architects.

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