We were approached by Oliver Peyton with whom we had previously worked on the RA Café to create the future of the funeral parlour in the UK. We wanted to create an open and welcoming environment, that helped to break down the barriers that we felt existed in current funeral parlours. We wanted to create a sense of calm with the softness of a domestic environment, to help people feel more comfortable.
Internally we have used a generous curved corridor to create an open lobby to link two new private meeting spaces- with one room set as a living room, and the other as a dining room and connected these to the contemplation space. The cheerful colours and timber floor accentuate the accessibility of the spaces, with comfortable pieces of contemporary and vintage furniture, and some feature lighting. The space has the eclectic feeling of home, accessorised with prints of vintage star maps and constellations to provide a backdrop of an ethereal nature, taking inspiration from other worlds.
We designed a beautiful folding timber privacy screen for the windows, made by Studio Wilson-Copp, which can be left open to show the interiors to the street to create the openness and engagement, whilst at the same time offering complete trust and privacy and discretion when closed for a private meeting.
We also designed a series of caskets and urns with simple minimal forms, including a hand painted design inspired by the Day of The Dead celebrations using classic elements such as the calaveras (the representations of human skulls) and marigolds (flor de muerto) are used throughout the design. The classic casket is available in custom colours as a way of personalising the design.
