An innovative cemetery in a conservation woodland has been awarded WAN's Future Projects Commercial Award.
The World Architecture News' judges were unanimous in selecting the 'fascinating project', which challenges traditional notions of a cemetery.
The project, designed by CHROFI and McGregor+Coxall, reflects Australia's move to being a more secular society, where personal views and philosophies are challenging attitudes to the funeral industry.
Paul Makowicki, Principal of CallisonRTKL and one of the panel's judges, said, "It's the most carefully crafted of all of the projects. I am intrigued by somebody who is re-looking at something that is an incredibly difficult subject. This is a charming scheme, a balanced, charming scheme."
Acacia Remembrance Sanctuary is located in a peaceful woodland setting on the outskirts of Sydney. Always intended as something new for the industry, the designers wanted to create a response that was intrinsically linked to the site, with a specific focus on natural burials without headstones. Those buried at the site will have their location recorded by GPS technology, preserving the bushland, but enabling memorialisation.
Visitors will enter the site by an elevated walkway, though a native park leading to a walled garden, which provides a 'transition' to an 'other world'. The heart of Acacia is an open-air pavilion, framed by a pond and peaceful gardens, called the Gathering Place.
"They've tried to create a place that's quite calm," said Mike Lampard, Design Director of Design of Corstorphine + Wright, and one of the judges.
The project uses a range of renewal technologies, and the cemetery will operate off the grid.
The project is due for completion in 2018.
See also: