Located at the eastern end of the 2.4h Hope Gardens of the World, the crematorium at provides a centrepiece for the site’s Remembrance Garden developed in 2012.
Positioned alongside the site’s lake, the complex provides a chapel, crematorium, memorial room, and memorial courtyard. Key elements are centred on the surrounding Remembrance Garden, and visually linked with the body of flowing water.
A courtyard between allows views, daylight and sunlight, while allowing for privacy to be maintained. The space also enables expansion of the chapel capacity, and for external services to take place.
A feeling of solidity and permanence is created through the use of stone cladding for the exterior and interior finishes.
Material selections have a timeless, natural quality, with basalt paving, marble cladding, and Jarrah posts carved by artist Robin Slow.
The carefully proportioned chapel forms the centrepiece of this complex in both a physical and spiritual sense. The casket itself can be mechanically moved to the crematory, positioned immediately behind.
Client: Marsden House Partnership
Location: Hope, Nelson-Tasman
Status: Completed 2012
Awards: NZIA Nelson/Marlborough Architecture Awards, Winner – Commercial Architecture, 2013
