The Healing Garden
A Leeds Charity Sanctuary
Maggie’s is a charity centre and sanctuary that provides care and assistance to people who are affected by cancer and is located in Leeds, UK, on the campus of St. James’s University Hospital.
Heatherwick Studio was commissioned to create the new centre and the building was conceived as an extension of the surrounding garden, presenting a welcoming space for visitors without the clinical feel of the hospital environment.
Balston Agius is a British landscape and garden design practice based in Wiltshire and London, and they were in charge of the external design, generated from the topography, building form, access and views, as well as roof usage. The development of low-key woodland is welcoming, grounding and celebrates the cycle of the seasons. Furthermore, it helps re-establish a lost landscape of Leeds even though at miniature scale, enriched with the ecology of a woodland, with new planting at both ground level and roof, the site becomes an oasis in the concrete desert.
“It is fantastic to be bringing Maggie’s to Leeds at a time when people with cancer need our support more than ever. The centre has been designed beautifully on a challenging plot of land. We were so pleased that Heatherwick Studio were able to incorporate plenty of green space into their design, as we know that a connection to nature, as well as great architecture and design can have a huge impact on people’s health, both mentally and physically. We hope that people visiting the centre enjoy the planting and gardens by Balston Agius and feel comforted by the design and layout of the centre. ”
In alignment with Maggie’s core philosophy and the belief that great design can help make people feel better, Balston Agius’s planting scheme infuses lush greenery into every pocket of space within and without the building. Upon entering the refuge, visitors become absorbed within a space that can be compared to a fairy’s home in a hollowed tree in a magical kingdom.
Balston Agius were inspired by the Yorkshire woodlands and feature native English species alongside evergreen plants that will provide foliage even throughout winter. The centre explores the healing properties of natural materials and encourages visitors to share in the care of the 23,000 bulbs and 17,000 plants on site.
The wider landscape contains a variety of natural and semi-natural habitats, many of which make an important contribution to the character of the landscape and are important for nature conservation.
New trees were selected to conform to the local vegetation, including Oak, birch and Scott’s Pine. Lower canopy includes bird cherry, rowan, hazel, and holly. Under- planting largely consist of blackthorn, hawthorn, elder, dog rose, burnet rose and some viburnum. The ground layer consists of an evergreen framework of ivy, butcher’s broom, great woodrush, wood sedge, stinking iris and ferns. Running through this are spring bulbs and perennials such as snowdrops, lesser celandine, primrose, bluebells, wood anemone, wood sorrel and wild garlic. Following on are perennials such as cow parsley, ragged robin and foxgloves.
“This has been an amazing project to be involved with and is the culmination of a huge collaboration of talented people who have come together to deliver an extraordinary result. The architecture and the landscape are so inextricably connected, and we hope that the people visiting the centre will enjoy the variety provided within the landscape by the changing seasons. The Maggie’s team provide extraordinary care to people with cancer and their families and to have been a part of this new Centre in Leeds has been both exciting and humbling. ”
The evergreen ground layer is designed to reinforce the trees and shrubs forming spaces and framing or screening views. The spring bulbs and perennials are laid out in drifts which are expected to change in shape and vigour over time. The biodiversity potential is hugely worthwhile and by introducing these important host species it is hoped that the site becomes a wildlife corridor linking nearby habitats particularly for insect and bird populations.
Horticulturally, the plants will be encouraged to grow to their natural shape and size unless they grow across paths, when they would be pruned back. ‘Weeds’, so long as they are not of the ‘invasive’ kind will be allowed to become part of the ecosystem of the site.
Maggie’s is a wonderful example of how a building blends the boundary between the garden and the interior exquisitely by introducing green spaces vertically throughout the building. From the outside the buildings appear to be immersed in green life and the interior feels warm and inviting, bringing a much-needed sense of comfort to those that are going through the hardships of serious illness.
Q&A
with Marie-Louise Agius
What was the client’s brief to you for this project?
The brief was both from the Maggie’s as well as from Heatherwick Studio in terms of collaborating to achieve the overall aspiration. Added into the mix was the important fact that the site itself was a very valuable piece of ‘green space’ within the Hospital’s complex and it was important to them that the Centre didn’t ‘remove’ this. By not only surrounding the buildings with planting, but also having all 3 building roofs planted, as if the buildings ‘grew’ out of the land. The landscape and the architecture need to read coherently and the outside areas as well as the internal spaces are key to providing spaces for contemplation, reflection and escapism.
What was your inspiration for the concept you came up with?
Our inspiration came from one of the original plants that was on the site when we first visited. A native Viburnum opulus (Guelder Rose) was covered in berries and was full bodied and healthy looking, surviving the not insignificantly hostile climatic conditions that the site is subject too, particularly the wind. This led us to consider ‘why’ and think about using British native woodland planting as being tough enough to withstand the site conditions, whilst providing wonderful seasonal variety that users of the Centre could enjoy through the planting. It also allowed us to bring a bit of the surrounding landscape back into a more urban environment, becoming a wildlife corridor and linking adjacent green spaces.
Do you believe that being near plants is important for improving the health and wellbeing of Maggie’s patients?
Being surrounded by plants, as you are in this building creates a tactile and varied setting, a marked difference to the more clinical environment of the hospital and very much in keeping with the warmth that the building and architecture create. Nature is a distraction, whether the form of the plant itself that catches your eye, whether the sound of the wind through the leaves, the scent of the plants or the opportunity to watch as the wildlife interact and engage with the landscape. It can change the focus and move your mind in a different direction.
Plants are even said to be beneficial for mental health, what are your thoughts on this?
Tying in with the thoughts above, plants, gardening, being surrounded by nature has many opportunities to contribute to positively impacting upon mental health.
How difficult is it to create the living garden roof and what are the benefits they offer?
All the roofs are planted, and it was something that was developed collaboratively with the team as there were engineering and structural elements that needed very careful coordination with both the architecture and the landscape. They need to be very carefully designed to ensure that the additional weight loading of a planted roof has been accurately calculated to ensure it is safe. The waterproofing and drainage system as well as watering system all need to be designed in detail. The roofs at Maggie’s Leeds are ‘intensive’ in terms of having enough depth of soil to accommodate shrubs and perennials; which enabled us to achieve the fully planted effect. The soil, however, is a special light-weight soil that was also designed to include enough nutrients and minerals to support the planting and allow it to grow and thrive.
What type of plants have you got growing up there?
Referencing once again the challenging weather conditions, particularly the wind, we needed plants that would be able to cope with the exposure of being planted on the roof. We also needed plants that would be able to adapt to being originally in a more exposed situation, but then becoming more shaded as the shrubs matured. It also all needed to tie in with the British native woodland matrix, so we were selective in the plants we used to ensure their suitability to the rooftop conditions.
Do you think living urban roofs will become commonplace in the future?
Whilst Maggie’s Leeds has an intensive roof scheme, there are also developments that opt for an ‘extensive’ scheme which is a much thinner depth of substrate which is generally more self-sustaining (e.g. planted with sedums). They both have the ability to help provide some storm water attenuation, encourage biodiversity and a variety of habitats that lead to an increase in birds, insects and other wildlife. They can provide insulation and cooling to buildings as well as many more benefits, if done properly.
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