Maggie's, Leeds: Yorkshire cancer centre named among the most beautiful buildings in the world by Time Out
In amongst incredible structures such as the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Giza and the Pantheon in Italy, Maggie’s at St James’s Hospital in Leeds ranked 19th in the list from the famous travel magazine.
The centre, which was built in 2019 and is based in the grounds of St James’s Hospital in Leeds, was described as “comforting and stunning” by Time Out’s travel writer Liv Kelly.
Liv said: “Hospitals tend to be uncomfortable places characterised by too-bright strip lighting and unnervingly squeaky surfaces, but not at this Maggie’s Centre.
“The charity has striven to build personal environments to support cancer sufferers and their families, and this space is comforting and stunning. Enormous, mushroom-shaped forms grow from the floors to form the tiered roofs, and the stems are deep enough to contain loos and lifts.
“The space is decorated with mostly natural materials – think cork-topped tables, resin floors and cascading potted plants.”
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Dame Laura Lee DBE, chief executive of cancer support charity Maggie’s, said: “It is wonderful that Maggie’s, Yorkshire has been recognised as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, highlighting the incredible work of our architects, as well as acknowledging the value of the expert support our centre staff offer to thousands of people with cancer every year.
“All of our 24 centres in the UK are carefully designed to be warm and welcoming places where people with cancer, and their friends and family, can receive support from staff, meet others going through a similar experience, or simply find a moment of a quiet when dealing with the fear and uncertainty a cancer diagnosis often brings.
“Those who visit our centres tell us time and again we pick them up when they are at rock bottom and help them find a way not just to survive, but to thrive, and we would encourage anyone who is living with cancer, as well as their friends and family, to drop in to one of centres.”