"Interest in architecture has diminished in the public eye" says Maggie's CEO Laura Lee

Maggie's CEO Laura Lee may have commissioned more starchitects than anyone else. In this interview, she explains the cancer support charity's approach to picking designs for its buildings.

Named after its co-founder Maggie Keswick Jencks, a Scottish writer, artist and garden designer who died of breast cancer in 1995, Maggie's is known for using quality architecture to create welcoming spaces in its support centres, which are always located on the site of cancer-specialist hospitals.

Since the first Maggie's Centre opened in Edinburgh in 1996, the charity has established centres across the UK and abroad, designed by some of the biggest names in architecture.

This includes a centre in Dundee by Franky Gehry in 2003, one in Fife by Zaha Hadid in 2006, Richard Rogers' west London centre in 2008, the Manchester centre by Norman Foster in 2016 and the latest centre by Daniel Libeskind, which opened last year in London.

Lee reflected on commissioning such high-profile designers and the media attention it brought to Maggie's when the charity was starting out.

"I never saw them as starchitects," she told Dezeen. "Obviously, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster were highly visible public figures, but I certainly don't see the buildings they've done for Maggie's as starry."

"What would be classified as 'star architects', the buildings they've created for us are nothing other than beautiful and functional – Frank Gehry's building was a cute little dumpling of a building."

By 2003, Canadian architect Gehry had achieved worldwide fame for his deconstructivist buildings, but Lee says this is not why he was chosen to design a Maggie's Centre.

"Frank was a personal friend of Maggie and had worked with her on a landscape design in the States – we weren't thinking, let's have him because he's a big name," she continued.

"His was the third building that we opened, and he did put us on the map. The paparazzi weirdly turned out for that, which I don't think they do for building openings anymore."

High-profile architects "helped shine a light on the importance of the built environment"

Lee argued that the media attention around starchitects in the past brought with it interest from the public, who were more engaged in discussions about architecture compared to now.

"The climate 25 years ago – with Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Richard Rogers – brought an interesting engagement from the general public to the role of architecture and the built environment," she said.

"There's no question that they helped shine a light on our work and the importance of the built environment."

That level of public interest has waned in the years since, she said.

"One of the things that worries me is that interest in architecture and the value of what buildings can do, beyond just giving a place for things to happen, has diminished in the public eye," Lee added.

"We need spokespeople to make sure the value of architecture doesn't get lost or unrecognised."

But the shift is not all bad, in Lee's eyes. While a small number of starchitects still generate public buzz, the architectural landscape today allows for a wider range of studios to create meaningful projects, she believes.

"The good thing is that 30 years ago, there was a handful of innovative and incredible architects coming out, whereas now we've got a wonderful range of architects who are design-focused," said Lee. "But maybe that also means that there's less of a public debate about it."

When considering a new architect or studio to design a Maggie's Centre, she explained, sensitive designers are sought after rather than those wanting to make bold statements with their buildings.

Although each Maggie's Centre has its own site requirements, the overarching architectural brief has remained largely unchanged since the charity's establishment – requiring architects to create welcoming buildings at a domestic scale.

"We're looking at architects who are well-developed in their emotional thinking and who can handle the emotional side of our brief," Lee said.

"We're not looking for architects who want to make an architectural statement, but architects who are able to put their ego aside and really respond to the emotional context of the brief."

Lee recalled a conversation she had with architect Piers Gough, of CZWG, while setting out plans for the second Maggie's Centre. Gough advised her not to commission the project through competitions – a piece of guidance she has followed with all Maggie's Centre commissions ever since.

"Piers Gough's advice was that we needed to not be what he described as 'a lazy client', going down the route of competitions and inviting people to apply, and that we should instead think about who we want to work with and visit the architects' work," said Lee.

"He was telling us to not be lazy, and also to be respectful of the fact that when architects are invited to interview and do competitions, that's a lot of cost and energy."

Rather than invite architects to submit their proposals through competitions, Lee and the Maggie's team find architects they would like to work with and, based on the architect's previous works, choose who they think would best respond to the particular Maggie's site.

"What we've done going forward is we have a long list of architects who we've seen, read or heard about and when a new Maggie's site comes along, we think about which architect could give the best response to the site conditions," Lee said.

"Steven Holl is a beautiful example of this, as he had a lot of experience building alongside Grade-I listed buildings in New York."

Lee visits architects' previous buildings to gauge whether they can create the friendly and architecturally impressive design she is seeking for Maggie's Centres.

Although Maggie's Centres are predominantly healthcare buildings, she explained that architects don't necessarily have to have previous experience in healthcare.

For Niall McLaughlin, who is designing the upcoming centre in Cambridge, Lee was impressed by the "humour and energy" of his first built project, the Carmelite Monastery in London.

"When you go to people's work, we're looking to see if it has that kind of magical surprise element," she said. "Is it something that when I come in, do I feel less anxious? We're looking at people's work through the emotive lens."

"A lot of Niall McLaughlin's recent work is very spiritual and deep, but we also said to him that we liked elements of the very first building that he worked on, which had a real sort of humour and energy to it," she continued.

"For our Cambridge centre, we asked him to think about bringing his younger self into the design process."

McLaughlin's Maggie's Centre has recently been submitted for planning permission. Construction is expected to commence in 2026 and complete in 2027.

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