Our renovation has turned the St Elisabeth burial church into a dignified resting place for the deceased and a spiritual environment for their relatives and loved ones.
The sepulchres shape the interior space and respond to the existing church room. Inspired by the mystic Alhambra, one of the world’s most beautiful and enigmatic buildings, we have transformed the middle of the central nave into a stele garden. The sepulchres in the side naves are arranged to form chapel-like alcoves.
Their main element is a simple steel shell. It functions as a burial chamber and holds the urn vault and cremation urn.
Cover panels are available in various natural stones. They are engraved with the name, date of birth, and date of death of the deceased. The old tiled floor has been replaced by lightly coloured screed. This material has a neutralising effect on the church interior and emphasises the sepulchres.
The sepulchres are integrated into the floor and blend into black gravel. This gives them the appearance of sinking into the ground as a reference to the Bible quote for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Graves become the stage for the natural retransformation of all mortal life.
Our renovation has turned the St Elisabeth burial church into a dignified resting place for the deceased and a spiritual environment for their relatives and loved ones.
The sepulchres shape the interior space and respond to the existing church room. Inspired by the mystic Alhambra, one of the world’s most beautiful and enigmatic buildings, we have transformed the middle of the central nave into a stele garden. The sepulchres in the side naves are arranged to form chapel-like alcoves.
Their main element is a simple steel shell. It functions as a burial chamber and holds the urn vault and cremation urn. Cover panels are available in various natural stones. They are engraved with the name, date of birth, and date of death of the deceased. The old tiled floor has been replaced by lightly coloured screed. This material has a neutralising effect on the church interior and emphasises the sepulchres.
The sepulchres are integrated into the floor and blend into black gravel. This gives them the appearance of sinking into the ground as a reference to the Bible quote for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Graves become the stage for the natural retransformation of all mortal life.
The sepulchres shape the interior space and
respond to the existing church room.
The sepulchres shape the interior space and respond to the existing church room.
Burial chamber
Urn vault
Burial chamber
Urn vault
Storey 0
CLIENT
Parish St Vitus
LOCATION
Mönchengladbach
TYPE OF BUILDING
Columbarium
STATUS
Completed, 2009
COMPETITION
2008, 1st prize
AWARDS
2010, BDA Award
PHOTOS
Erich Jütten
CLIENT
Parish St Vitus
LOCATION
Mönchengladbach
TYPE OF BUILDING
Columbarium
STATUS
Completed, 2009
COMPETITION
2008, 1st prize
AWARDS
2010, BDA Award
PHOTOS
Erich Jütten