Crematorium Stuifduin

The Statie Stuifduin crematorium appears like a ruin in the Kempen landscape. Landscape architects BuroLandschap are restoring this landscape back to its cultural-historic primal origins. Shifting sands and pine trees in the domain refer to the heath landscape and the mining forests that shaped the Kempen landscape. The area comprises open, half-open and enclosed spaces where visitors become aware of the natural environment and the landscape. Spaces for farewells, cremation and catering are grouped around a garden room, where nature becomes part of the building. a2o architects used natural materials with a focus on craftsmanship and detail. They combined concrete with rough masonry and bricks from a ring furnace in Maaseik. The route followed by mourners through the building and the restored landscape allows comprehension of our life's journey from birth to death. It offers comfort to mourners: growth, blooming and death as a universal rather than culturally and religiously defined symbol.

This text is based on the project details provided by the architects.