Storms have torn a “large section” of rendered wall from a state-of-the-art Dundee cancer research hub that opened less than a decade ago.
Dundee University’s estates team worked with the emergency services and colleagues from NHS Tayside to make the area around the Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre safe on Friday after ferocious winter weather damaged the building.
The centre – named after the “feisty” campaigner Jacqui Wood who raised millions in donations before succumbing to the disease – opened in 2013 after decades of high-profile charity appeals.
The Courier can reveal the latest damage – which has left a large portion of the rendering collapsed on the ground – is the latest in a string of issues to affect the building.
Dundee University managers are locked in an arbitration process with builder Sir Robert McAlpine and BMJ Architects in an effort to determine who is responsible for the defects.
Investigations underway
Dundee University estates workers are still assessing the full cost of the most recent damage.
A spokesman said: “Members of the university’s estates team have been working with colleagues from NHS Tayside, the fire brigade and others to make the area outside the Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre safe after a large section of rendered wall was detached last night.
“Clearly we are concerned that this has happened to a relatively new building and investigations are underway,” he added.
BMJ Architects has been approached for comment.
Builder Sir Robert McAlpine declined.
The incident comes after bad weather in 2018 caused similar problems at the centre, which is located on James Arnott Drive, Ninewells Hospital.
It is understood the issues lie with the rendering on the exterior of the walls rather than the structural soundness of the building itself.
Centre opened after decades of charity appeals
News of the dispute is likely to dismay the thousands of Taysiders who supported the Ninewells Cancer Campaign, fronted by Dr Wood until her death in 2011.
The centre’s backers continued her work, raising a further £2m and naming the building in her honour in 2013.
The campaign’s vice-chairman Lady Fiona Fraser said at the time of her death Dr Wood was a “legendary” fundraiser and “a beautiful, feisty lady, respected and loved by all who met her.”
The centre brought all of Dundee University’s clinical and laboratory cancer research work, including hundreds of specialists, under one roof.
It was hailed as a massive step forward in supporting research work on the disease in the city.
Dr Wood became a common sight across Tayside, often flanked by cartoon character Dennis the Menace, as she encouraged donors to open their pockets to fund various cancer-related projects.
Who was Dr Jacqui Wood?
Dr Jacqui Wood led the Ninewells Cancer Campaign for 20 years before succumbing to the disease she had spent her lifetime raising money to fight against in 2011.
The original campaign began in 1991 with the aim of raising £1 million to attract leading cancer researchers to Dundee to develop new and better treatments.
Dr Wood formed an unlikely alliance with Dennis the Menace as she charmed people into putting their hands in their pockets.
Campaigners raised money in a variety of ways, including fun runs, coffee mornings, sponsored silences and head shaves in local pubs.
Dr Wood set a number of golden rules, the most notable being an insistence that every penny went to the campaign.
It went on to raise more than £20m by the time the Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre opened in 2013, named in honour of her outstanding contribution.
Its staff explore everything from the basic biology of cancer cells to specific forms of the disease.
There are a number of young researchers and PhD students, who might have struggled to get a first foot on the ladder without the support of the work Dr Wood championed.
She died at home in Broughty Ferry at the age of 65, having raised around £18m, however friends and family have continued her work, raising millions more.
Dr Wood moved to Dundee in 1985 and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in the city the following year.
She moved to the Angus bench in 1996 where she remained until ill health forced her to retire in 2009.
She became chairman of the Ninewells Cancer Campaign when it was founded in 1991.
She was also a trustee of the Leng Charitable Trust and was on the board of Dundee College.
She was made an MBE in 1998 and received honorary doctorates from the universities of Dundee, in 1999, Abertay, in 2005, and St Andrews, in 2009.
She was also appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the City of Dundee in 2005.
Dr Wood approached the honours given to her with modesty and gratitude, always stressing the part played by others, and never lost her sense of humour.
The irony of receiving a diagnosis for ovarian cancer in 2007 was not lost on her.
Her friends and family said she continued to approach the future with her customary forthright spirit.
