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Interdenominational Chapel and Replacement for Dewsbury Moor Crematorium

Part 1 Project 2007
Matthew Jones
Leeds Beckett University | UK
This proposal suggests a serial vision, a ritual process designed to help those who have lost come to terms with their grief. It is about acceptance of death, but celebration of life, and the coming together of loved ones.

A sense of closure is paramount to crematorium design, an acceptance of committal, comparable to burial, helps us come to terms with our loss, and so the introduction of a ritual passage adjacent to the initial axis, distinguishes the last rites of our loved ones.

The deceased is forever immortalised within our memory, within the chapel of light.

Matthew Jones


The brief (provided in consultation with officers of Kirklees Local authority) asked, "Is it possible for architecture to comfort, console and inspire hope?" Rooted in realism, it encouraged idealism and the investigation of symbolism and poetry in architecture.
Matt's work excelled in its thoroughness and breadth of exploration; its integration of architecture and landscape; its manipulation of the built form in the interests of expressive lighting; and the way in which he defined and designed the stages of what has the potential to be a spiritual journey, intended for the consolation (and sensitive to the needs) of the bereaved.

2007
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