Article published in ICCM magazine

1. Cycloids and Sustainability
The New Crownhill Crematorium in Milton Keynes
Adrian Morrow BA (Hons), BArch (Manc), RIBA
Principal Architect, Environmental Health, Milton Keynes Council
A new and distinctive single chapel crematorium has
been designed to sit alongside the existing chapel at
Crownhill Crematorium in Milton Keynes. The original
building, which opened in 1982 was designed by
Roger Hobbs, John Corbey & Associates. Although
design work for the new facility started in September
2005 the project was put on hold for sometime while
the client, Milton Keynes Council, put considerable
effort into obtaining the necessary funding. At that
time, the key drivers of the project were to establish
the best part of the site to locate the new building,
ensure that the design met the needs of the “process”
involved in managing funeral services and find a
suitable architectural theme or character for the
building that was calm, and tranquil but not pertaining
to any religion in particular.
Following an initial feasibility study that compared and contrasted
six different locations within the grounds, the site was chosen. The
existing road and car parking systems could be extended easily,
and the site offered the opportunity for the building to embrace the
existing woodland adjacent. The outline brief was for an additional
chapel to serve the anticipated increase in the number of cremations
(Existing in the UK’s fastest expanding city. It was calculated that by 2010
crematorium
building) the existing facility would not have the required capacity to cope.
Our original building brief was very
simple; it consisted of a list of
accommodation areas that one would
expect to find at a new crematorium
including all ancillary plant, equipment
and offices. During the development of
the design, both a Sanctuary (a small
side chapel) and a Japanese Rock
Garden to enhance the view from the
chapel, were added. External spaces
were considered of great importance
and will include a promenade, rill and
ponds, the columbaria, woodland walks,
a wildlife garden and the SUDS
(Sustainable Urban Drainage System)
waterway and related informal ponds.
In keeping with our client’s desire for a
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2. building of appropriate character, we proposed a spiritual
and tranquil design comprising a combination of wide
span “served spaces” in austenitic stainless steel clad
cycloid form concrete roof vaults located over concrete
columns, in conjunction with small span flat roofed
“servant space” elements. A cycloid is a geometrical form
and it is the path taken by a point on the circumference of
a circle as it rolls along a horizontal plane.
Typically, the “served spaces” include the principal spaces
such as the chapel, the waiting area, the staff
accommodation, the porte cochere and departures area.
The chapel was designed to seat 145 people, making it
bigger than the existing building which seats one hundred.
It is to be top lit and equipped with state of the art audio SANCTUARY
visual facilities operated from a dedicated control room.
The “servant spaces” are comprised of the smaller spaces
within the brief such as the officiant’s room, WC’s, kitchens,
kitchenettes, stores, plant rooms and so forth. This approach
of “servant and served space” was inspired by the Kimball Art
Museum in Forth Worth Texas, by the well known American
architect Louis Kahn.
D4 and Sustainable Construction
After two years ‘on hold’ work resumed in late 2007, and
architecture MK were asked to develop the design so that a
planning application could be made – then Milton Keynes
Council introduced a sustainability policy called D4. The
following is an extract from the Milton Keynes Council Website
WREATH COURT on Planning Policy:
All new development exceeding 5 dwellings (in the case of residential development) or incorporating gross
floor space in excess of 1000 sq m (in the case of other development) will be required to include the following:
(i) Energy efficiency by siting, design, layout and buildings’ orientation to maximize sunlighting
and daylighting, avoidance of overshadowing, passive ventilation;
(ii) Grouped building forms in order to minimize the external wall surface extent and exposure;
(iii) Landscape or planting design to optimise screening and individual buildings’ thermal performance;
(iv) Renewable energy production e.g. external solar collectors, wind turbines or photovoltaic devices;
(v) Sustainable urban drainage systems, including rainwater and waste water collection and recycling
(vi) Significant use of building materials that are renewable or recycled;
(vii) Waste reduction and recycling measures;
(viii) Carbon neutrality or financial contributions to a carbon offset fund to enable carbon emissions
to be offset elsewhere.
The implications of this policy on this project was that the design was developed with sustainability as another key driver.
concluded over
Spring 2009 21

3. Cycloids and Sustainability....
Energy conservation and the minimising of energy usage have been prime considerations in the development of the design.
Further to point (iv), above, it was agreed with the planners that heat recovery from the cremators would be an acceptable
alternative to renewable energy by recovering the excess heat produced by the cremators to heat water which will be stored in
buffer tanks. The recovered hot water to be used to heat the building by means of both underfloor heating and radiators. A back-
up gas fired condensing boiler will also be provided.
Ventilation will be by passive means.
Intelligently controlled natural systems will be
provided to the principal spaces, rather than
incorporating air conditioning. The
Monodraught Windcatcher system has been
proposed. This incorporates chimneys with
openable louvres at their bases, which will be
provided on the roof of the chapel, staff
accommodation and waiting area. The louvres
will be controlled by temperature sensors within
the interior. Temperature regulation will be aided
by the high thermal mass of the structural
concrete vaults. Night time cooling in summer
will be achievable using the Monodraught
Windcatcher system. Lighting will be of the low
energy LED type as far as possible. Lamps of
this kind give off negligible heat, and have
extremely long life, in the order of 25 to 30 years,
thus minimising maintenance and running costs.
MONODRAUGHT WINDCATCHER
MATERIAL PALETTE
External walls: Terne Coated Austenitic Building materials will be Green Guide A rated as far
Lignacite Snowstorm Split Block Stainless Steel Roofing
as is reasonably achievable. With the exception of the
concrete frame and vaults, every material used within
the building will be Green Guide “A” rated, meaning
that they are sustainable. Even though the concrete
frame is not green Guide A rated, it will be as sustainable
as we can possibly make it by the incorporation of
recycled aggregates including pulverised fuel ash
(PFA) and ground granulated blastfurnace slag
(GGBS). Insulation U-value standards will be 20%
better than Part L2 of the current Building Regulations.
Full planning consent (conditional) was obtained on
29th May 2008 and capital funding obtained.
Internal walls: Lignacite External Paving From
Snowstorm Polished Block Recycled Aggregates
SUDS and Landscaping
The location of the proposed new building is over the location of some existing planting.
For this reason it is proposed to incorporate new planting as part of the works. The scheme
has been designed in conjunction with Milton Keynes Council Landscape Architecture,
and our SUDS Consultant RPS Design and is of contrasting elements. This will be of partly
manicured formal garden, and partly natural meadow and woodland. The building will be
contained by the SUDS system, which is being designed to enhance the existing natural
watercourse that runs through the site and improve the habitats of the existing wildlife;
great crested newts, pictured right, (a protected species – a Natural England Licence has
been obtained), smooth newts, frogs, toads and grass snakes, amongst others.
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4. The natural watercourse provides a very beneficial
base to implement a SUDS scheme. The SUDS
scheme will be used to enrich the existing ecology
that has formed over the past decades. The building
will disrupt some ecology but, by designing specific
types of planting, wetland and other silviculture, the
overall ecological importance of the site will be
enhanced.The intention is to maintain and make
accessible to general public view as much natural
wildlife and landscaping as possible. This will provide
a more natural type of space for remembrance and
ash scattering.
A RILL
A rich and diverse setting such as Crownhill
Crematorium has the potential to be made
accessible for a variety of personal reflection
choices; very formal gardens, promenades,
woodland trails, memorial walls (Columbaria)
and a cross section of water features, each at
a variety of scales and formalities. A series
of descriptive notice boards will allow the
users to fully understand and appreciate the
wildlife on site.
A JAPANESE GARDEN
The client’s total budget at the time of writing
is approximately £5.48 million. This figure is
to include all fees and enabling works, such
as the ecological mitigation. The current
project programme requires a start on site in
late summer 2009, and completion in early
2011. I hope to keep you informed of our
progress in future editions of ‘TJ’.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
Spring 2009 23