08/11/23
This article is featured in the October 2023 edition of Perspective magazine, to purchase a copy click here
The much-anticipated Antrim and Newtownabbey Crematorium which opened in June this year is a modern facility, essential to addressing the growing demand for cremation slots in Northern Ireland. This 950m2 building, set in landscaped grounds, serves as the second operational crematorium in Northern Ireland. Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council appointed AECOM to design the chapel crematorium on a greenfield site, which had already received outline planning approval.
The four and a half hectare site at Doagh Road Newtownabbey is close to the Ballyearl Leisure Centre and slopes six meters from the roadway to the South where it is separated from neighbouring fields by railway lines. There are green fields to the West and an industrial estate to the eastern boundary. The new building is nestled back from the main road in the south-west corner of the site.
The aim of the design brief was to provide a simple and welcoming building, minimising corridors, and using high quality and durable materials to create a dignified setting for grieving families to say goodbye to loved ones. The landscape setting for the crematorium is an important part of the scheme providing links with nature and creating an appropriate civic parkland setting for the building.
The massing of the building comprises two single storey volumes perpendicular to each other each with pitched zinc roofs. One houses the public ceremony room with entrance hall with ancillary toilets and office accommodation. The second, larger volume is the crematory room with capacity for two cremators and associated equipment, staff welfare facilities and viewing room. Two large rooflights cap each of the roofs providing light centrally into the depth of the plan of both the ceremony room and the crematory.
Given the site’s natural slope, the building’s roof aligns with the viewer’s eye from the roadway. As a result, it was important that the cremator flue did not become a dominant first impression. The crematorium betters current emissions standards with additional gas abatement which reduces flue emissions. Following design modelling and analysis, the flue is discretely located within the rooflight to the crematory at the rear of the building. Over time the woodland planting will mature to further screen the building from the road enhancing seclusion and privacy.
A curved access road lined with native trees elongates the arrival to the building. Mourners are directed to enter the carpark to the south of the site. The funeral director and immediate family proceed past this car park to the porte-cochere of the crematorium building, located opposite a pond and wildflower planting. The planting design requires minimal maintenance whilst providing seasonal variety and year-round interest. Planting is more formal adjacent to the building and in a memorial garden which includes options for urn storage including a stone columbarium.
The porte-cochere provides a sheltered space for the transfer of the coffin and entry of family mourners to the building. A generous entrance hall directly leads to the main chapel space, designed to seat 160 people. Full height windows on either side provide tranquil views of the enclosed courtyard gardens. When the service is complete, mourners exit the building, passing the floral tributes enroute to the carpark. By prior arrangement, a viewing room is available which allows mourners the opportunity to view the coffin entering the cremator.
The natural material palette includes brick, timber, stone, and zinc roofing to create a warm, welcoming modern building. The external brick continues internally to the ceremony room, which features a steeply sloping wooden panel ceiling and acoustic walls. A large format stone tile floor extends from the main entrance and into the ceremony room.
Sustainable measures include optimising natural ventilation, the use of condensing boilers, energy management systems, low water use sanitaryware, LED lighting and daylight sensing light controls. Heat from the cremator supplements heating the building and photovoltaic panels on the roof provide on-site electricity generation. EV charging points are provided in both the main carpark and the hearse parking. SuDS features include permeable paving and underground attenuation tanks.
The building design is inclusive, welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds. State of the art audio and visual systems facilitate live streaming of funeral services and allow families to personalise the service through music selection and photographic montages.
As cremation becomes increasingly popular in Northern Ireland, this modern facility and landscape setting offers a personal and serene environment for grieving families to commemorate the lives of loved ones.
Paula Lavery
AECOM
This article is featured in the October 2023 edition of Perspective magazine, to purchase a copy click here
Client: Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
Architect: AECOM
Quantity Surveyor: AECOM
Structural Engineer: AECOM
M&E: AECOM
Main Contractor: Ganson UK
Photographer: Gareth O’Cathain, AECOM
