Zwalm Saint-Anna Cemetery

In the heart of the hilly and bucolic landscape of the Flemish Ardennes lies the cemetery of Zwalm Sint Anna. Our design team has drawn up redevelopment plans that will transform the cemetery into a unique cemetery that will be even more anchored in the landscape and architecture. This place will also focus on peace and respect for the relatives.

Landscape Art

To provide a more intimate and secure experience for the visitor, the cemetery was divided into garden rooms, bordered by wide round clipped hedge massifs. Various forms of burial find their place there such as ash delivery, among others. The garden rooms open up toward the steeply sloping grounds where there is a venerable circular farewell and memorial area with adjoining spreading meadow. Here art and landscaping form a harmonious whole, evoking the mystery of life through the connection with the emptiness of the connecting landscape. This spiritual landscaping will allow family and friends of the dearly departed to say goodbye to their loved ones in a respectful manner while surrounded by mystical beauty. This place will undoubtedly promote a sense of serenity and contemplation. With sensitivity and respect, a garden room specifically dedicated to remembering children was also provided. This respectful place is complemented by a star garden where loved ones can find solace and have the opportunity to remember their unborn children.

Art & Architecture

At a later stage, the municipal of Zwalm council also asked us to design a new entrance with the possibility for people to take temporary shelter in rainy weather and store work and garden equipment. If the town council wishes to implement this, a second redevelopment phase will follow. It became an architectural complex in which two volumes and an accompanying entrance gate form a single entity. The white, partly curved volumes refer to the rolling landscape and the white mill standing nearby. In this way, I highlight the importance of identifying new architectural infills in the landscape with the already existing landscape. Such entrance will give the cemetery an important recognisability for the inhabitants of Zwalm.

Colour was also incorporated into the façade architecture and the entrance gate. Further on in the cemetery, at the end of the spreading meadow and facing the open landscape, these haphazardly mixed colours find their balance in a contemporary work of art in which the colours are neatly arranged. This integrates into the cemetery the symbolism of a transition from a searching life to a perfect state of being.

Fase 1