Trend Watch: Immersive Gardens Redefine Healthcare

For almost three decades the cancer support charity Maggie’s in the UK has provided patients an alternative to windowless, sterile oncology facilities. Their 27 major hospital sites offer respite, solace and practical support, ranging from nutritional specialists to breathing classes in a calming sanctuary.

Gardener, designer and writer, Maggie Keswick Jencks started the charity in 1995, feeling a need for support beyond the clinical hospital wards. Unfortunately she didn’t live to see the first doors open the following year.

Today, each landscaped garden highlights the changing seasons, from a shrub shedding its leaves in autumn to flowers blooming in spring. Observing seasonality can help patients adjust to the changes they’re experiencing over time.

In each location the proximity of the garden to the Oncology department is crucial to its success. Often, that meant landscape architects, designers and architects worked together to turn mixed use areas, such as carparks and areas between buildings, into calming sanctuaries. The collaborative projects have resulted in creative solutions such as raised vegetable beds, zones for different plant communities and linear hedges.

See photography of the garden designs and description of the philosophy in Wallpaper.

Photo: Raf Makda – Maggie’s Centre, Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton UK.