Leeds Beckett Cemetery Institute
Design studio | BA Architecture | Leeds Beckett University | 2014
Preserving the memory of both the site’s history as a cemetery, and the existence of those buried below. A place to reflect on Leeds history and past inhabitants, as well as contemplation of the role of death in our lives. The processes and aesthetics of ruin and decay aid and reinforce our personal and cultural understanding of death, and tell the story of the site’s history. The design must allow and cultivate this in order to provide an enriched experience of the cemetery and it’s past. So, by using this space in a different way we can bring it back to the scenario of the city as a public space.
The Friends of Leeds Beckett Institute have in its programme:
1. A Hall (40sqm)
To host meetings, workshops, non-religious services, talks, performances, screenings, and other events for the Friends and other local groups.
To include: a small kitchen for making and serving light refreshments; suitable storage and WC’s.
2. A Kiosk (20sqm)
Staffed by the custodian. To receive visitors and act as a meeting point. To sell flowers, wreathes, plants, candles, light refreshments, books and other publications. To provide for existing rituals and ceremonies, hospital visitors, and the surrounding community.
3. A private study ( 20sqm)
For the custodian of the institute, including an office and a storage.
4. External elements
Consider the routes, paths, access, entrances, lighting and way-finding to, from and through the cemetery as part of your proposals. This should be considered at the scale of the whole site.
The proposal contemplates all the requested areas in the programme and also incorporates more uses as a possibility for renting the space and earning funds for the Friends of Leeds Beckett group. The conception of the project came from two main axis that correlate with the two separated parts of the Cemetery, the Anglican and the Non-Conformist one. The axis are the visual, where you can see the building clearly from the principal entrance and also where you can get the best visuals from inside it, and the connection axis, which connects to the existing paths.
In here I present some parts of the process of the conception, including previous studies that were important for the final design.
Group research - surrounding buildings
About the site- Leeds Beckett Cemetery
Cemetery photos
Cemetery photos
Project reference- Capilla de Las Capuchinas by Luis Barragan
The model was made in soft wood with acrilyc yellow painting.
Model experimentation
Site plan and conception of the project
Landscape floor plan
Ground floor plan
First floor plan
Section A and section B
Elevation A and elevation B
Materials and structure
The model was constructed with soft wood and acrilyc (with and without protective film) at the Workshop of Leeds Beckett Univeristy. The base was 1x1 m and the scale 1:20.
