Houses of Healing

Llewellyn Vardon McLeod & Sheldon Williamson

Studio Outline:

Houses of Healing is a studio exploring an Australian interpretation of a Maggie's Centre within a dense urban context. Maggie’s Centres take their name from Maggie Keswick Jencks, who believed that people should not “lose the joy of living in the fear of dying”. Cancer treatment can be exhausting, repetitive and depleting, and traditional cancer treatment focuses on clinical care. Maggie’s Centres provide people with cancer and their families with a place of respite where they can access practical, emotional and social support. The Maggie’s Centre has become an architectural institution with Frank Gehry, Snohetta and Thomas Heatherwick amongst the designers of the 17 existing Maggie’s Centres. Students will interrogate what it means to create patient centric design. Exploring ideas of psychology of space and connection to nature while navigating the urban context of Melbourne CBD.

Studio Leaders

SHELDON WILLIAMSON is a registered Architect and a University of Melbourne and University of Texas alumni. Sheldon is convinced of the intrinsic relationship between psychology and Architecture. He has explored this both through his academic studies, and into professional life, working on residential mental health projects where the design focus is centred around patient wellbeing. He is currently working at an internationally renowned Architectural practice focusing in the education sector and is designing a multi-generational home in Mansfield.

LLEWELLYN VARDON MCLEOD is a registered Architect and a University of Melbourne alumni. Llewellyn has dedicated her working life to healthcare Architecture and is currently involved in a project collaborating with an internationally renowned Architect on a new premier health education facility in Sydney. She has worked on a number of award winning cancer focused Architectural projects in her position with Billard Leece Partnership. Llewellyn is passionate about evidence based design and the blending of Architecture and nature.

Learning Outcomes:

The objectives of this studio will be to:

• Re-conceptualise the spaces patients experience while dealing with serious illness
• Test these concepts of architectural space against a rigorous framework of analysis and comparison
• Explore what connection to nature means within an urban setting

This will be achieved progressively through-out the semester, beginning with a series of design exercises aimed at creating a deep understanding of the key components that go into creating a well place. Students will then be asked to explore how these concepts manifest across a series of sites within the Melbourne CBD. Testing ideas of density, psychology, and nature to find a unique solution. Students will critically analyse the results of these explorations and the final design project will be to develop a considered and thoroughly delightful Maggie's Centre that offers Cancer patients and their families an 'Architecture of Hope'.

Reading and Reference:

• The Architecture of Hope: Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres - Charles Jencks
• Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Wellbeing - Esther M. Sternberg

ST1/33 Monday 6:15pm - 9:15pm, MSD Room 239
ST2/33 Thursday 6:15pm - 9:15pm, MSD Room 239

Contact Handbook Key Dates