Exhibition celebrates the design of Maggie's Cancer Care Centres
It explores the use of design to aid care and comfort at centres including in Newcastle and Middlesbrough
An exhibition celebrating the design of Maggie's Cancer Care Centres is now on display at V&A Dundee.
Marking thirty years of the charity, 'Maggie's: Architecture That Cares' explores the use of design to aid care and comfort at the centres, including the one in Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
The first centre opened in Edinburgh at the Western General Hospital in 1996.
The exhibition brings the ideas behind our remarkable buildings to life through the voices of centre visitors, staff, and the architects who designed the buildings.
It features:
- over 20 architectural models
- newly commissioned film and interviews
- material samples
- photography and sketches
- personal objects from the last years of Maggie’s life
- the original ideas that became the very first Maggie’s centre
Designed from the same brief, Maggie's says every centre has a shared set of values and a focus on how the space makes visitors feel. They are warm, inviting, bright, flexible spaces that have community at their heart and a connection to nature, yet each building is completely unique to its setting.
Dame Laura Lee DBE, Chief Executive of Maggie's, said: “To be celebrating 30 years of Maggie’s with an exhibition at V&A Dundee on the importance of our architecture and design, feels incredibly special.
“When Maggie first had a vision for a different type of cancer care, our offering was nothing short of groundbreaking, and now, 30 years on, we’re at the forefront of transforming care for people impacted by cancer across the UK.
“This exceptionally meaningful exhibition will help introduce new audiences to Maggie’s and our healing architecture ethos. I hope those visiting will leave knowing that there are warm, welcoming places to go for expert support if they, or their family and friends, are ever facing cancer.
"I also hope the exhibition will encourage the conversation that healing environments matter."
Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee, said: “V&A Dundee is delighted to be marking this meaningful moment in partnership with Maggie’s. Maggie’s offer extraordinary care every day in spaces designed to welcome us when we're at our most vulnerable and to help us heal.
"V&A Dundee and Maggie’s are both on a mission to demonstrate that good design makes a fundamental difference through our lives.
“Maggie’s provides unique cancer care in special places that are locally and globally recognised for their caring architecture. Each is a unique sanctuary of indoor and outdoor spaces designed with hope and humanity.
"V&A Dundee is proud to share a city with Maggie’s Dundee, and we’re honoured that local centre visitors have contributed to this meaningful exhibition.
“Maggie’s’ achievements over the past 30 years are remarkable, supporting millions as they navigate cancer and demonstrating that good architecture and design helps us when we need it most and offers us hope.
"I am very proud that this exhibition will share these design stories."
Meredith More, Senior Curator at V&A Dundee, said: “All the centre visitors we’ve spoken to in the process of curating this exhibition tell us that the inspirational architecture they encounter at Maggie’s has helped them in their cancer journeys. Centre staff, from psychologists to benefits advisors, tell us that it helps people open up, that the buildings themselves play a caring role.
“This free exhibition aims to show how this is achieved, through the creativity of architects and designers in response to an inspiring brief, but also through the vision of Maggie’s as dynamic architectural clients that trust in the power of design to transform people’s lives.”
The exhibition is free and on show at V&A Dundee in the Michelin Design Gallery until 1st November 2026.