Cemetery at UlriksdalRealized

We see a cemetery as a place naturally linked to life. To the development of life through time and through the world, something wandering which suddenly one day can end. A demystified relationship to death makes life easier to live.

Our proposal for a service building at the Ulriksdal Cemetery inserts itself in the rich, magnificent nature of the site. Two volumes at an angle open up to the northwest and are supplemented with an ancillary building. The volume of the workshop reaches up towards the slope where oak trees grow. The long concrete facade with its relief effect stretches out to form a backdrop for the cemetery and separates its tranquility from the activity of the service building courtyard.

The service building consists of two volumes in two different materials, concrete and wood, holding each other. In the meeting between the volumes, the circulation occurs in the form of a cast in place concrete staircase that constitutes the nave between workshops, administration and staff.

This is a place for all faiths and for this reason it addresses the passage from life to death from a humanistic perspective rather than one associated with any particular religion. For the people working at the cemetery with the park, the graves, interment, we want the building to have dignity and provide beautiful spaces as well as carefully balanced light and outlooks from the different functions.

The building forms an entryway into the park and cemetery. A building that states its practical function and draws on the industrial but also expresses something of pride and ease, which resonates with the free design of the cemetery.

Team: Petra Gipp, Katarina Lundeberg, Maria Videgård, Malin Heyman, Kalle Hjalmarsson