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To mark the 30th anniversary of Maggie’s, a free exhibition celebrating the pioneering design of the much-loved cancer care centres will open at V&A Dundee on 6 March 2026.

The exhibition joins Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show and Design & Disability on the V&A Dundee 2026 programme.

Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show (3 April 2026 until 17 January 2027, ticketed)
A UK exclusive to V&A Dundee, Catwalk: The Art of the Fashion Show celebrates over 100 years of catwalk history, charting their dramatic evolution, from the private salons of the late 19th century to today’s immersive, live-streamed runway experiences.

Design and Disability (5 June 2026 until spring 2027, free)
Both a celebration and a call to action, Design and Disability showcases the radical contributions of Disabled, Deaf, and neurodivergent people and communities to design history and contemporary culture, from the 1940s to now.

Maggie’s: Architecture that Cares (6 March 2026 until 1 November 2026, free)
Thirty years ago, after learning her cancer had returned, designer, gardener and writer Maggie Keswick Jencks dreamt of spaces that would help people “to not lose the joy of living in the fear of dying”. Now, more than 30 centres exist across the UK and beyond, designed by globally recognised architects including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster and Benedetta Tagliabue. They offer a haven of emotional, practical, and psychological support to those affected by cancer.

Maggie’s believes that great design and architecture help people feel better, and this philosophy is central to every centre. Each Maggie’s centre is designed with care and is completely unique to its setting, yet they’re all designed from the same brief.

Maggie’s: Architecture that Cares will explore the design of these radically different buildings that put the importance of human connection and nature at their heart. With a warm welcome and a sense of home, every centre is beautiful, caring and surprising.

The free exhibition will bring this groundbreaking approach to life through the voices of centre visitors and staff, as well as the architects who designed the buildings. Featuring newly commissioned film and interviews, personal objects, photography, sketches and architects’ models, and quiet reflective spaces, it will illuminate how the architecture makes people feel and the effect it has on their wellbeing.

Maggie’s: Architecture that Cares tells the story of how Maggie and her oncology nurse Laura Lee came up with the blueprint for a new model of cancer care. Encouraged by her husband, the architectural historian Charles Jencks, they decided that inspirational design should be at the forefront of their plan to give people with cancer “a place of their own” – a place to turn to that is distinct from but close to the hospital.

Dame Laura Lee DBE is now Maggie’s Chief Executive, and together with Marcia Blakenham, a close friend of Maggie’s, acts as co-client on every project. They work with architects to ensure the needs of centre visitors are central to each design, whilst encouraging creative freedom and flair. The Maggie’s design brief asks architects to focus on how the spaces make visitors feel. The buildings should look and feel confident and reassuring, as well as inspiring curiosity and optimism.

Dame Laura Lee DBE, Maggie’s Chief Executive, said: “To be celebrating 30 years of Maggie’s with an exhibition at V&A Dundee on the importance of our architecture and design, feels incredibly special.

“When Maggie first had a vision for a different type of cancer care, our offering was nothing short of groundbreaking and now, 30 years on, we’re at the forefront of transforming care for people impacted by cancer across the UK.

“This exceptionally meaningful exhibition will help introduce new audiences to Maggie’s and our healing architecture ethos. I hope those visiting will leave knowing that there are warm, welcoming places to go for expert support if they, or their family and friends, are ever facing cancer. I also hope the exhibition will encourage the conversation that healing environments matter.”

Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee, said: “V&A Dundee is delighted to be marking this monumental moment in partnership with Maggie’s in 2026. Maggie’s offer extraordinary care every day in spaces designed to welcome us when we're at our most vulnerable and to help us heal. V&A Dundee and Maggie’s are both on a mission to demonstrate that good design makes a fundamental difference through our lives.

“Maggie’s provides unique cancer care in special places that are locally and globally recognised for their architecture. Each is a unique sanctuary of indoor and garden spaces created with care at their heart. V&A Dundee is proud to share a city with Maggie’s Dundee and we’re honoured that local centre visitors have contributed to this meaningful exhibition.

“Maggie’s’ achievements over the past 30 years are remarkable, supporting millions as they navigate cancer and demonstrating that good architecture and design heals, helps and offers hope. I am very proud that this exhibition will share these design stories.”

Meredith More, Senior Curator at V&A Dundee, said: “All the centre visitors we’ve spoken to in the process of curating this exhibition tell us that the inspirational architecture they encounter at Maggie’s has helped them in their cancer journeys. Centre staff, from psychologists to benefits advisors, tell us that it helps people open up, that the buildings themselves play a caring role.

“This free exhibition aims to show how this is achieved, through the creativity of architects and designers in response to an inspiring brief, but also through the vision of Maggie’s as dynamic architectural clients that trust in the power of design to transform people’s lives.”

The first centre opened in Edinburgh at the Western General Hospital in 1996. Designed by Richard Murphy, it was a redevelopment of the old stable blocks, a colourful, homely building with a central kitchen table and multi-functional spaces. ‘The kitchen table’ still sits at the heart of the Maggie’s design philosophy, inviting centre users to make themselves at home and to find community. Maggie died before the centre opened in Edinburgh, but thanks to Laura and Marcia, her vision lives on.

Maggie’s Dundee was the first purpose-built centre. Opened in 2003, it was designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry and sits alongside Ninewells Hospital. The garden, designed by Arabella Lennox-Boyd, contains a labyrinth based on the one at Chartres Cathedral in France.

Like Maggie’s centres themselves, the exhibition will have a focus on community. While Maggie’s centres have an international reputation, Maggie’s work hard to ensure each centre is designed around the needs of the people who use them. Centre visitors from Maggie’s Dundee have contributed towards the exhibition, sharing what matters most to them.

The exhibition will celebrate the Maggie’s design brief as a pioneering model for the transformative power of human-centred design and ask how these approaches could be more widely applied across all healthcare spaces.

Over the past thirty years, Maggie’s has redefined cancer care, offering free psychological, emotional and practical support for people living with cancer as well as their family and friends. As cancer continues to impact more people than ever before, it’s vital that everyone who needs it has access to the support that Maggie’s offers. In 2024, Maggie’s supported 327,000 visits and by 2027 Maggie’s aims to support half a million visits from people with cancer and their families every year.

Maggie’s: Architecture that Cares is free and on show at V&A Dundee in the Michelin Design Gallery from 6 March 2026 until 1 November 2026.