Photo: The Smile
The use of wood at Maggie’s
Oldham is part of a bigger
design intention to reverse the
norms of hospital architecture,
where clinical institutionalised
environments can make
patients feel dispirited. In
wood there is hope, humanity,
scale and warmth. Maggie’s
Oldham is the first permanent
building constructed from
sustainable tulipwood cross-
laminated timber, following
on from dRMM and AHEC’s
development of this material
with the experimental project
Endless Stair in 2013. All of
the walls and roof are visibly
structure and form an exquisite
natural timber finish internally.
The tulipwood CLT has been
carefully detailed to bring out
its natural beauty – its fine,
variegated finish is more akin
to a piece of furniture than
a construction material. The
slatted ceiling was created
from wood left over from
the CLT fabrication process,
ensuring no waste.
Wood fibre insulation
ensures a breathable, healthy
environment whilst the huge
window frames are American
white oak. Externally the
building is draped in custom-
fluted, thermally modified
tulipwood, like a surreal
theatrical curtain. Maggie’s
Oldham is a carefully made
manifesto for the architecture
of health, realised in wood.
THE SMILE
Category: Small Project
Wood Species: American
tulipwood
Location: Chelsea College of
Arts, London
Architect: Alison Brooks
Architects
Client: American Hardwood
Export Council / London Design
Festival
Structural Engineer: Arup
CLT Manufacturer: MERK Timber
GmbH, Züblin Timber
Main Contractor/Joinery
Company: Aldworth James &
Bond
Lighting Designer: SEAM
Balustrade Joinery: John
Stidworthy Wood Supplier:
Various
The Smile was an immersive
sensory environment that
integrated structure, surface,
space and light to form a public
gathering place.
Conceived as a habitable
arc, The Smile was a 3.5m
high, 4.5m wide and 34m
long curved timber tube
that cantilevered 12m in
two directions with viewing
platforms at both ends. Up to
60 visitors could enter at one
time through an opening where
the arc touched the ground.
Innovative solutions using
long screws were developed,
allowing the opening to be
in the most highly stressed
region. The Smile was the first
project in the world to use
large hardwood CLT panels; the
entire structure was made from
just 12 tulipwood panels, each
up to 14m long and 4.5m wide.
The CLT panels were connected
with 7,000 self-tapping screws.
At the base, a glulam timber
cradle filled with 20 tonnes
of steel counterweights,
allowed the project to be self-
supporting. Perforations in the
walls, concentrated in areas
where there was less stress in
Landscape & Urban Design
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