Client: Zaha Hadid Architects
Architect: Tiago Correia
Type of works: specifically designed triangular skylights created to complement the building’s unusual shape.

Maggie’s Centre in Kirkcaldy, Fife, designed by Zaha Hadid Architect is the latest in a number of cancer care centres designed by such high-profile architects as Frank Gehry, with Daniel Liebeskind and Richard Rogers designing two projects in the near future. The Fife centre is Zaha Hadid’s first completed UK project to date and is also her smallest at just 300m². The centre offers a bright and welcoming atmosphere enhanced by the triangular skylights, which were specifically designed to complement the building’s unusual shape.

Selected by project architect Tiago Correia, the new centre is illuminated by 21 special rooflights measuring 1,000 x 1,000 x 900mm. Slim profiles, fine lines and high-quality, energy-efficient designs were all part of the rooflights' appeal, but it was the flexibility of design offered by the Rooflight Company that led to its products being specified. In consultation with Correia, the design team at the Rooflight Company created rooflights that not only brighten the interior but also work in a cohesive way with the unusual exterior.

Architect Peter King, who is also Chairman of the Rooflight Company, explains: “Increasing the amount of natural daylight that enters a building has proven benefits in terms of mood and health, so it was felt that incorporating rooflights would be the best way to do this. However, because of the striking and unique design of the building, mass-produced rooflights would have been unsuitable, so we came up with a tailor-made solution that accentuates the character of the centre as well as helping to make it a lighter, airier space.”