In September 2018, NBS and Maggie’s Newcastle teamed up to design and launch an architectural design contest to help raise awareness of the vital work of the centre in Newcastle, as well as those around the country.
Maggie’s centres are built in the grounds of specialist NHS cancer hospitals and are warm and welcoming places, with qualified professionals on hand to offer a programme of support that has been shown to improve physical and emotional wellbeing.
The design brief asked entrants to bring a welcoming feeling of warmth and safety into their designs, in line with the home-from-home and caring atmosphere which Maggie’s has been associated with since the first one opened in Edinburgh in 1996.
The competition was inclusive to anyone who wanted to take part and design a hypothetical new centre.
The entries
From the entries received, two main categories were set up to be respectfully judged; professionals and students.
16
professionals
17
students
The judges
Each judge picked their winner from each category, and the overall winner was decided by centre users from Maggie’s Newcastle, those who have experienced first-hand the benefit and impact that great architecture and design can have on wellbeing.