Background
In the ancient woods of Warwickshire sits a unique crematorium surrounded entirely by an established oak forest. Oakley Wood sits amidst the flora and fauna of this historical corner of England, a quick five-minute drive from the adjoining market towns of Warwick and Leamington Spa.
Staff from Oakley Wood approached The Columbaria Company to create signposts (24 in total) for their “Woodland Path” scattering areas, a walk through the serene forest a little distance from the office. Their main goals with this project was to generate interest and footfall in the area.
Brief
Whilst visiting the site, Max Kendall-Wilson (Bereavement Services Asst. Manager) discussed with us the desires and needs the crematorium had when it came to signposting the scattering areas.
The existing unsuitable signage (pictured left) for the scattering areas bore the names of animals found within the woods, these names would remain in the new markers. The existing signage was too low to the ground, susceptible to the outdoor conditions and hard to read and differentiate from one another.
Max told us how they wanted to increase footfall and generate interest in the area with eye-catching features. Colourful but not garish, in keeping with the other areas around the crematorium. A visibly signposted area where those who scattered loved one’s ashes could easily find the exact scattering spot again.
Design
With the brief in hand the project was handed over to The Columbaria Company’s Creative Design team to develop a concept to show Max and the team over at Oakley Wood crematorium.
The main factors considered in the design process were materials, setting-appropriate aesthetics and ease of installation
Material: Due to the requirement of 24 signposts, cost of the material had to be heavily considered. Granite would have been too costly on this scale for a product with no return on investment (i.e. memorialisation) and metal is unsuitable for the environment from an aesthetic point of view. The team settled on using timber as the main building material for hitting all three of the design criteria.
Aesthetic: The timber discussed in the previous point allowed for the main body of the signpost to fit in with the forest environment in a way other materials did not lend themselves towards. Once that was decided, it was time to decide on the signage face itself. The team settled onto an acrylic plaque with full colour imagery of the 24 animals.
Ease of installation: For this project, it was important that the feature did not have extensive groundwork unnecessarily adding to the total cost. The simple stake design meant that all that is required for installation is a suitable hole and post concrete – something achievable for crematorium staff themselves.
Production and Installation
The marker posts were entirely manufactured in hull in two main sections: the stake & plaque frame and the actual signage plaque itself to sit inside the frames.
Stakes & plaque frame: For the wooden stakes and frame we enlisted the help of Karl, our fixer who is skilled in carpentry. He sourced timber from local merchants and set to work making 24 standardised wooden stakes and frames and joined them together.
Signage plaque: For the signage plaques, our design team created 24 individual plaques of the animals requested sourced from high quality, professional images. Each plaque has an image of the animal relating to the scattering area, the name of the area and the words “Woodland Path”.
Final Words
After installation of the posts, two of our Creative Design Team members visited Max at the site to see if they were happy and satisfied with the new marker post features for their Woodland Path.
“We’ve had a lot of interest and people finally using the area as we’d like” Max told us as we wandered through the trees to the area. “The old signage was worn out and too low to the ground” he continued “it’s great to see something suitable for the area”.
At The Columbaria Company, we strive for personalisation in our services. Whether that be a crematorium deep in the forest or situated in an urban jungle, we recognise the need for bespoke solutions tailored to a site’s needs and environment.
Thank you to Max from Oakley Wood Crematorium for speaking with us about this and we wholeheartedly look forward to new projects with this beautiful crematorium.