The Herald

Black, angular and foreboding on the outside, the latest Maggie's Centre opened in Kirkcaldy yesterday to reveal a welcoming interior splashed with sun - a visual reminder to the cancer sufferers and the families who will use it that all is not as dark as it seems. Founded 10 years ago, Maggie's Centres offer help, information and support to those affected by cancer, using signature architects to create aesthetically uplifting spaces as a relief from the clinical conditions found in hospitals. The newest centre, the fifth to date, was opened by Chancellor Gordon Brown, the local MP, whose wife Sarah is one of the charity's patrons. Sited next to the grounds of the town's Victoria Hospital, it will support the 1700 Fife residents who are diagnosed with cancer each year. It is the first permanent work in the UK by the world-renowned Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, who is also designing the new riverside museum in Glasgow.