MAGGIEâS CENTRE
Dundee, Scotland

Photo: Whit Preston

Frank Gehry was a close friend of Maggie Keswick Jencks, who died of breast cancer in 1995. She pioneered the setting up of a small cancer caring centre in Edinburgh whose purpose it is to help people with cancer support and information.
As an act of friendship, and in celebration of her, Frank Gehry has designed the next centre, at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. He visited the site, on a hill overlooking the river Tay, in the autumn of 1998 and his office is now preparing plans and models for the project, which it is hoped will be completed in 2000.
The brief asks him to construct a 200 square meter building, domestic in scale and spirit, which will be a complete contrast to the hectic bustle of a busy hospital.
The aim is to create a building which will make people feel safe and cared for, and at the same time stimulate their imagination. All the services at Maggieâs Centre are designed to help people make the best possible use of their own resources and thus cope better with having cancer. The building itself will have a major part to play in this.

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