Maggie’s Centres: ‘Healing Environment’ in design practice and (user) experience

The built environment is increasingly recognized to have an influence on people’s wellbeing, as reflected by the concept of ‘healing environment’. In the UK, this concept is adopted by the Maggie’s Centres, non-institutional contact and information centres that offer support to anyone affected by cancer. In the materialisation of these centres, a lot of attention is paid to architecture that uplifts people. Therefore a study was set up to examine how architecture can contribute to a ‘healing environment’ according to designers and users of the Maggie’s Centres. Besides analysing the vision of the Maggie’s Trust and the architectural brief, we conducted interviews with designers of five different Maggie’s Centres, and a focus group interview with users of Maggie’s Dundee. The concepts that emerged from the interviews were compared with a literature review, in order to situate the case study in a broader context. The study reveals particularities of the design process, which turns out to rely not on scientific research, but on a close collaboration with the client-expert who translates the user needs. Furthermore the Maggie’s Trust establishes a particular atmosphere in the Centres, which has a great impact on users’ experience of the environment. The Maggie’s Centres are a rather exceptional case. Their emphasis on user experience and emotions is an insightful and inspiring interpretation of ‘healing environment’. The latter is evidenced by the work of 4th year engineering-architecture students who designed a Maggie’s Centre for Leuven near Gasthuisberg. A selection of their work will be exhibited during the reception after the research seminar.status: publishe