BRIEF

Located on the steep banks of the Griffeen River, between Lucan village and the N4 Bypass. Driven by the need for new burial sites in the area, this site was identified due to its adjacency to the existing cemetery which was nearing capacity. The site did not naturally lend itself to burials, being a brownfield site, with subsoils contaminated with landfill and being a steeply sloped valley site with a culverted storm drain taking contaminated water from the wider catchment (adjacent neighbourhood). Tackling these environmental constraints took a strong ecological design focus from the client and the design team.

CONCEPT

The new lawn cemetery is located on a brownfield site within a natural valley setting. As part of the scheme, stormwater from the surrounding neighbourhood was redirected into a newly created biological water feature, designed to naturally filter and clean the water through sustainable, ecology-based drainage methods.

The sloped topography was terraced with large curving retaining walls in brick to match the reception building. Material and planting selection was intended to offer soothing natural colours, tones and textures that create a calming effect within a naturalistic landscape.

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Winner - Sustainability
2024 Irish Landscape Institute (ILI) Awards

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