Project name: Mount Auburn Cemetery Bigelow Chapel and New Crematory
Project location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Firm name: William Rawn Associates, Architects
Jury comments: The new crematory embraces the historic chapel with delicacy and warmth. It offers a dignified, light-filled space for loved ones to witness a significant end-of-life ritual–the commitment ceremony–designed with special consideration to accommodate Hindu and Buddhist practices, as well as Mount Auburn’s historic Christian traditions. The wraparound addition is glassy and exquisitely detailed, enhancing the existing building, and at once reflecting the landscape and inviting it in. The expert balance of new and old, and the inclusion of an array of religious practices, makes this project truly award-worthy.
Client: Mount Auburn Cemetery
Images: Robert Benson
Consultants: Acentech; Amec Foster Wheeler; Building Envelope Technologies; CSL Consulting; Haley & Aldrich; Halvorson | Tighe & Bond Studio; Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design; Kalin Associates; Kessler McGuinness and Associates; LeMessurier; McGinley Kalsow & Associates; Rist-Frost-Shumway Engineering; Serpentino Stained Glass Studio; Shawmut Design and Construction; Sullivan Code Group
