Oak Hill Lawn Crematorium

Location: Hatfield

Brick Manufacturer: Ibstock PLC

Brick Name: Birtley Olde English Grey

Architect: Benchmark Architects

Brickwork Contractor: Belfry Construction (Services) Ltd

Welwyn & Hatfield Crematorium is a new bereavement centre and crematorium for Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. The scheme is located at Welwyn Hatfield Lawn Cemetery, South Way, Hatfield.

The project includes a new crematorium with capacity for 150 people in a double storey chapel, office and administration facilities and extensive landscaping works to enhance the existing cemetery including flower court and dedicated memorial spaces. The building has been designed to minimise visual impact on the surrounding greenbelt and uses the existing topography to ensure that the highest part of the building sits below the existing tree line.

To the rear of the building, a separate grounds staff office and workshop is provided that will be sub-contracted out to the ground’s maintenance company. New parking will be provided offering space for both crematorium and cemetery users. Landscaping has been enhanced across the site that includes new attenuation and reflective ponds, as well has new planting and wayfinding signage.

Brickwork was selected as the primary façade material for its low maintenance qualities, and for the way in which it compliments the monolithic architectural style. Careful consideration was given to selecting a brick colour to enable the building to sit harmoniously within the landscape. It was critical that the overall mass did not exceed the existing site topography and the building complimented the very natural and changing backdrop. The selected brick colour works successfully with the natural green and brown shades of the trees behind across all four seasons.

The building adopts several key brickwork details to breakdown its expansive appearance. The top of the double height chapel adopts a projecting detail which acts as the crown of the building. The appearance of the projections changes throughout the day depending on how the sun causes shadows to be cast. A perforated brick detail is used to provide a semi-transparent façade to the publicly accessible memorial garden. This contrasts with the more private and enclosed flower court, and aids in the experience of creating a graduated exit from the building.

A further brick detail on the scheme is the double recess solider course. There is a distinctive stonework banding that wraps around the front-of-house parts of the façade. To provide a continuation of this banding in the brickwork areas, a double soldier course with recesses above and below was developed. This successfully unifies the whole façade and links the multiple geometries together.