Maggie’s Royal Free

• Client: Sir Robert McAlpine
• Sector: Healthcare
• Services: Commercial Decorating
• Region: Belsize Park, London
• Size: 454m²
• Project Value: £25k

Project Overview

Sentinel is intensely proud of the work carried out at the Maggie’s Centre at the Royal Free Hospital in London’s Belsize Park.  

There are now more than two dozen Maggie’s Centre’s in the grounds of hospitals across the UK. They were conceived by Maggie Keswick, the garden designer, who died of cancer in 1995, and her husband Charles Jencks, an architectural critic.  

Each centre gives support to people suffering from cancer, and their families and friends, and provides a warm, inviting and uplifting environment away from the treatment wards. They offer a different kind of cancer care; as Maggie Keswick herself said, with the right support, “nobody would lose the joy of living in the fear of dying when diagnosed with cancer”. 

All Maggie’s Centres have been designed by leading architects. The stunning creation at the Royal Free, a hospital which has been serving the community in this corner of north-west London for nearly 200 years, was the brainchild of renowned New York-based architect Daniel Libeskind.  

As London’s leading specialist decorating sub-contractor, Sentinel was delighted to provide a high-quality decorative finish throughout the building.  

The Maggie’s Centre at the Royal Free, the third of its kind in the capital, was opened in January 2024 by Queen Camilla, the President of the Maggie’s cancer support charity.   

Project Brief

Our brief from our client, Sir Robert McAlpine, was to use our commercial decorating experience and expertise to create an outstanding decorative finish in all areas of the new building.  

From what was once a car park at the hospital, an extraordinary design arose. The eye-catching Maggie’s Centre has curved and angled timber walls that expand outwards as the building rises from the ground. 

Daniel Libeskind himself said: “This was an incredibly constrained site. We occupy half the car park. So, this project had to be all about light.” 

As a specialist decorating contractor with extensive experience, at Sentinel we understood immediately the need for our decoration to align with the need to allow in and encourage as much natural light as possible.  

Challenges / Solution

The curvaceous timber shape of Maggie’s Centre at the Royal Free Hospital is spectacular and memorable. However, that unique formation presented our specialist decorators with a challenge. 

Given the nature and purpose of the building, we were eager to live up to our reputation as the UK’s preferred specialist decorating contractor, and to deliver a standard of finish our client would be proud of.  

Thanks to the dedication and experience of our team of commercial decorating experts, that aim was achieved. So was the difficulty of working in a relatively small space at the same time as a host of other tradespeople. In such circumstances, the best way to ensure a smooth and successful outcome is to plan carefully the sequencing of the works.  

Our commitment to the project, and our ability to collaborate with other on-site operatives, ensured that all the teams involved, including ours, were able to progress swiftly. We were delighted to be able to deliver a high-quality finish that is key to a space that does so much to help people at a time in their life when they need as much support as possible.  

The Result

It will be no surprise at all if the Maggie’s Centre at the Royal Free is a leading contender for design awards when they are handed out. The new building has already received extensive praise for the quality of its design, and the way that helps to fulfil the centre’s purpose. 

Peter Landstrom, group CEO of the Royal Free London NHS Trust, said: “Every year, thousands of people with cancer visit our hospitals – I hope this centre will provide some comfort to them and their loved ones. I am hugely grateful to everyone who has been in the creation of the Maggie’s Centre.” 

More than 10,000 people are expected to visit the centre each year and Dame Laura Lee, CEO of Maggie’s, said: “We hope this new centre, beautifully designed by Daniel Libeskind, will continue to help our existing and new visitors… so that anyone living with cancer can get the support they need.” 

The flowing weathered timber walls house nine rooms over three floors including a kitchen – which, according to the Maggie’s ethos, is the focal point of each centre.  

Lee added: “More and more people are getting a cancer diagnosis, so more people are coming through our doors. Which means our buildings must support that growth by providing flexible spaces.” 

There’s even more ingenuity on display in the external space, which was designed by Martha Schwartz Partners. The landscaping includes trees from existing woodland and is intended to feel like an extension of nearby Hampstead Heath.  

We can only reiterate how proud Sentinel is to have played a key role in the delivery of such an impressive and creative scheme for such a worthy cause.