The Irish Times

Think of a standard hospital complex and the very opposite is Maggie's Highlands Cancer Care Centre, in Inverness. It's one of five such daycare centres developed in memory of Maggie Keswick Jencks, late wife of Charles Jencks, the arch-priest of post-modern architecture; she died from cancer in 1995. The centres aim to provide a caring, homely environment for anyone who has cancer and are usually located next to existing hospitals. In all cases - including the latest one in Dundee, by Zaha Hadid - they were designed free of charge by the architects on the principle that buildings can uplift people. That is certainly true of the Maggie's centre in Inverness, which I visited on a tour of 10 projects shortlisted for the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) "Building of the Year" award - named in honour of the late Andrew Doolan, the colourful developer associated with Glasgow's Merchant City.