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Architects: Methodic Practice
- Area: 200 m²
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Photographs:Robin Hayes Photography
Text description provided by the architects. The Hall of Remembrance is a new building which completes the Gardens of Peace Muslim Cemetery in Ilford, for which we were the architects.
The cemetery is very important in the Muslim community as burials must be arranged without undue delay. Orientated towards Mecca, the Hall of Remembrance is a single storey new build pavilion within the existing cemetery grounds and is centered around a landscaped courtyard offering a place for visitors to congregate before & after the burial ceremony.
The 200sqm Janazah building offers a spacious ceremony hall and wudhu (washing) facilities for visitors and staff of the cemetery with sheltered external circulation areas providing visitors with relief from the elements. The wash facilities are sandwiched between stone filled gabion walls that act as a visual & sound buffer to the neighbouring houses behind the site.
The implementation of a sedum green roof provides a visually rich outlook to the 300sqm mono pitch roof area. The extensive landscaping surrounding the new building reconnects the built form to the wider planting zones of the 8.7 hectare cemetery. The selection of two mature Olive trees in the courtyard makes reference to the habitats and origins of many of the visitors and those laid to rest in these grounds.
Solar thermal collectors offer a renewable means of hot water for the 30,000 visitors received annually. The prefabricated Glulam beams and columns combine with crosslam panels to make up the majority of the superstructure, with simple and robust detailing and ecological construction materials all contributing to reducing the impact of this new scheme on its immediate and wider environment.
