Lakewood Cemetery Garden Mausoleum

Place of Beauty and Remembrance

Since its founding in 1871, Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis has served as the foremost resting place for Minnesota’s most distinguished citizens. Familiar names like Humphrey, Wellstone, Pillsbury and Walker are found here, among a long list of local pioneers, civic leaders, industrialists and art patrons. Laid over 250 acres of rolling landscape and adjoining the city’s historic Grand Round’s parkway system, Lakewood’s historical importance and impeccably manicured grounds make it a treasured landmark and community asset in the City’s Uptown neighborhood.

Like many urban cemeteries, the cemetery is hemmed in by residential and commercial development, with little room to expand. One solution is to take advantage of trends toward cremation and other above-ground burials. Lakewood, which has a mausoleum that dates to 1967, saw an opportunity to maximize existing space and further serve the community by constructing a second mausoleum.

The 24,500-SF, two-level mausoleum provides options for cremation and crypt entombment in a state-of-the-art building. Built into a hillside to mesh with the landscape, the elegant design embraces Lakewood’s landscaping and architectural legacy: the rich palette of materials (granite, marble, wood) and architectural features (mosaics, bronze artwork, stained glass) were selected to connect with the cemetery’s other buildings.

Inside the mausoleum, visitors encounter a contemplative space. The interior is designed as a series of spatial experiences, in which the play of light and materials invite contemplation and remembrance. Natural light and a connection to nature through views of a four-acre garden that blends with the historic landscape strengthen the relationship between the spiritual and the earthbound.

Portfolio
Location

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Building Type

Sacred

Size

24,500 SF

  • 2014 Building Stone Institute, Tucker Design Award
  • 2014 Architecture AIA, National Honor Award
  • 2013 The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, National Honor Award
  • 2013 Spark Spaces Design, National Silver Award
  • 2013 International Interior Design Association, Best of Competition Award 2013
  • 2013 International Association of Lighting Design, Honor Award
  • 2013 IIDA Northland Chapter, Interior Design FAB Grand Award
  • 2013 IES/IIDA, Regional Guth Award for Interior Lighting Design
  • 2013 IES/IIDA Section Guth Award for Interior Lighting Design
  • 2013 IES Illumination Award of Excellence
  • 2013 Contract Magazine, Interiors Awards: Public Space
  • 2013 Architizer, A+ Popular Choice Award
  • 2013 American Society of Landscape Architects, Award of Excellence
  • 2012 Mason Contractors Association of America, Institutional TEAM Award
  • 2012 Marble Institute of America, Pinnacle Award of Excellence
  • 2012 Marble Institute of America, Grand Pinnacle Award
  • 2012 Interior Design Magazine, Institutional Best of Year Award
  • 2012 Finance & Commerce Magazine, Top 10 Projects of 2011
  • 2012 Engineering News Record/Midwest Magazine, Best Cultural/Worship Project
  • 2012 Engineering News Record, Best Cultural/Worship Project
  • 2012 Boston Society of Landscape Architects, Honor Award, Memorial Design
  • 2012 Architect Magazine, Annual Design Review Bond Award
  • 2012 AIA Minnesota, Honor Award
  • 2012 AIA Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture (IFRAA), International Honor Award
  • 2011 The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, National Honor Award
  • 2010 AIA Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture (IFRAA), International Honor Award-unbuilt

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