Gary: Good cemetery design adds value to burial plots. Plots close to scenic vistas or parks attractions command premium prices.
Hines: The challenge is to create unique cemetery places versus the typical expanse of graves that you see along highways outside most towns and cities.
Increasingly, the public wants to find natural sanctuary in cemeteries.
Master Plan
Cemetery master planning is critical for a cemetery to be able to identify short and long term needs. It also allows them to develop a logical and realistic implementation plan for a variety of projects based on need.
The design process starts with a cemetery analysis and site map. This allows a client to establish what they have, how much they want and where they can expand. This is also a good time to review changing consumer buying trends and the cemetery’s cash flow.
A cemetery should be unique, and the master plan is the place where this is established. An interesting feature can be a water feature, whether natural or constructed, which serves multiple purposes: aesthetics, infiltration of storm water, and wildlife habitat. It can also serve as an attraction for the community to visit and explore. Modern cemetery design must think beyond a grave and burying ground; it should be a vibrant celebration of life, family, history, individuality, and an integral part of the community.
Landscape and Architecture
The cemetery landscape is an opportunity to foster connections with people, celebrate life, and preserve history. An aesthetically-pleasing design encourages visitation and increases the marketability of burial spaces.
Mourners are often accustomed to leaving flowers on graves and columbarium walls. Newer designs of these structures take this into account by incorporating metal clips beside each plaque for a small posy. These are glued to the plaque and, as they decay, allow mourners to leave a beautiful floral display without the hassle of constantly re-arranging them.
In an era when societal attitudes toward death are changing, the cemetery landscape needs to evolve as well. It’s important to rethink the way we use cemeteries on a regular basis, and a master plan allows you to do just that. A process that involves the board and key stakeholders over a series of workshops can help a cemetery better understand the opportunities and costs of different projects. It can also identify long and short term needs, allowing the cemetery to balance development costs with revenue and expand inventory as needed.
Accessibility
Cemeteries must be accessible for people of all ages and abilities. This includes having sidewalks and wheelchair-accessible paths throughout the grounds, and ensuring that all facilities, including restrooms, visitor centers, chapels, and grave sites, are designed with accessibility in mind. It also involves regularly consulting with disability advocacy groups to ensure that the cemetery is adhering to current accessibility standards.
A growing trend in cemeteries is to use columbarium walls instead of burial plots. This allows families to bury their loved ones in space efficient spaces that are less costly than traditional burial plots. These spaces typically include a niche that can be marked with a plaque.
The design of a cemetery monument is a highly personal experience for a family and should reflect their loved one’s unique character and passions. It takes a special kind of knowledge to create a monument that is both respectful and beautiful. Skilled artisans are necessary to ensure that each monument is a lasting tribute.
Signage
The signage in a cemetery must be durable enough to stand up to years of harsh weather conditions (winter can be especially tough in western Ukraine) as well as the routine annoyances of graffiti and simple vandalism. In addition, the design of signs should allow for future changes in URLs that link to web pages with additional information or updates on a burial site’s association with Jewish communities; adhesive labels may need to be added for this purpose.
Often, the signage in a cemetery will be made up of directional or identification signs. The graphical design of the latter can be informed by the standards and guidelines that apply to direction or identification signs, including those for tourist sites and heritage areas. For example, the directional road signs shown in the photo of Rohatyn Cemetery use a national standard for sign sizes, corner radii and arrow form but with brown coloring and custom symbols to indicate that the site is related to Jewish heritage.