The new building, which officially opened last October, adds around 80m2 of space to the existing 16-year-old facility, which sits next to the River Chelt in the grounds of Cheltenham General Hospital. It allows more people to use the centre, offers additional ‘snugs for conversations’ and provides an open-plan kitchen space, extra storage and a new toilet.
The scheme features glazed passageways linking the site’s original Grade II-listed Victorian Lodge, MacCormac’s 2010 extension and the new single-storey, lozenged-shape addition, which features fluted reconstituted stone walls – establishing a more welcoming entrance sequence.
The curved extension projects south onto the garden and features glazing to both sides, as well as a cantilevered stone bench. A new garden path and relocated water feature by artist William Pye lead through the re-planned landscape by designer Christine Facer Hoffmann.
Metropolitan Workshop, which was set up by former MJP employees, said the latest project continued MacCormac’s idea of the building as ‘a large piece of inhabited furniture’.
Neil Deely, partner and co-founder of Metropolitan Workshop, said: ‘Our aim was to extend Maggie’s Cheltenham with the same care and craftsmanship that defined Richard MacCormac’s original design. This new space restores the intended journey through the garden to a generous kitchen and table, forming a warm, domestic heart that embodies the Maggie’s ethos.’
Inside features crafted joinery along with natural stone and timber floors, terrazzo counters and two circular light wells. The whole scheme is united by a green roof.
Maggie’s chief executive Laura Lee added: ‘Maggie’s is marking 30 years of trailblazing cancer care this year. We ask our architects to create environments where people feel they can breathe more easily, where they feel at home and have the space to process what is happening to them.
‘That’s exactly what the care and thought of Metropolitan Workshop has created in the design of the additional space for our Cheltenham centre.’
Metropolitan Workshop won planning for the extension in November 2019. The original scheme, a refurbished Grade II-listed Victorian Lodge, was designed by the late MacCormac’s practice, MJP Architects, and opened in 2010.
In 2013 Maggie’s approached MacCormac with a brief to reconfigure and further extend the centre. At that time MacCormac, who was himself battling cancer, included former colleague and Metropolitan Workshop founder Neil Deely in early conversations about the design.
The extension’s architectural language is derived from MacCormac and Deelys’ initial sketches in 2013 and further influenced by the forms of the outlying ‘refuges’ of the original scheme.
MacCormac, who was best known for buildings including the Sainsbury Building (1982) and the Garden Quadrangle at Oxford (1993) died in 2014, aged 75.
Earlier this month, the AJ announced that Maggie’s had chosen Roz Barr Architects and Lily Jencks, the daughter of the national cancer charity’s co-founders, to design its new centre in Dumfries – the home of the late Maggie Keswick Jencks, who set up the charity with her husband, landscape designer Charles Jencks.
Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre, Cheltenham, by MJP Architects, 2010
Architect’s view
Our aim was to extend Maggie’s Cheltenham with the same care and craftsmanship that defined Richard MacCormac’s original design. This new space restores the intended journey through the garden to a generous kitchen and table, forming a warm, domestic heart that embodies Maggie’s ethos.
Neil Deely, partner and co-founder, Metropolitan Workshop
Client’s view
Maggie’s is marking 30 years of trailblazing cancer care this year. We know the expertise of our centre staff is vital to help people cope when they are facing a cancer diagnosis, but we also know the important role the design of our centres plays in the support we provide. We ask our architects to create environments where people feel like they can breathe more easily, where they feel at home and where they have the space to process what is happening to them.
That’s exactly what the care and thought of Metropolitan Workshop has created in the design of the additional space for our Cheltenham centre which was originally deigned by the late Sir Richard MacCormac of MJP Architects. The additional space means we can now offer an expanded programme of support so that even more people from across Gloucestershire can benefit from Maggie’s expertise and care at possibly the hardest time of their lives. The extension blends perfectly with the original building and provides a wonderful light and airy kitchen and sitting area which is already a favourite place for people to gather.
Laura Lee, chief executive, Maggie’s
Project data
Location College Baths Road, Cheltenham
Start on site January 2024
Completion August 2025
Gross internal floor area 86m²
Gross (internal + external) floor area 185m² (building area), 910m² (site area)
Form of contract or procurement route Traditional
Construction cost Undisclosed
Architect Metropolitan Workshop
Client The Maggie Keswick Jencks Caring Centres Trust
Structural engineer Cobb & Co
M&E consultant WSP
QS AFA
Planning consultant McGloughlin Planning
Landscape consultant Facerhoffman Landscape Design
Principal designer Maggie’s Centres
CDM co-ordinator CDM (Scotland)
Approved building inspector Butler & Young
Main contractor Beards
CAD software used Revit