The selected roofing material was part of a specification designed to reflect the natural surroundings and environmental ethos of the building and its peaceful location.

While selecting a final resting place might not be most people’s idea of a fun day out, the GreenAcres Woodland Burials site in Rainford is a little different from your average cemetery, and more than a little bit special!

Set amidst two 19th and 20th century woodland plantations, Emma Wood and Grace’s Wood, the 65 acre site is part of the Knowsley Estate and has been designed to welcome people of all beliefs and denominations, conducting either faith-based or secular funerals on site in line with the wishes of the deceased and their loved ones.

The ‘Reception Building’ that has been constructed close to the entrance to the site, opposite the car park, is the space designed to celebrate funeral services of all kinds and also offers a contemplative space from which to enjoy views across the picturesque woodlands.

Explains Tom Cowley from GreenAcres Woodland Burials: “Our Rainford site is one of five burial parks we own and operate across the UK and high quality, sustainable buildings are an integral part of each of them.

“We strongly believe in the importance of a funeral as part of people’s bereavement journeys, regardless of their faith, values or beliefs, and our buildings provide a setting as natural as possible for the celebration of funerals before the deceased is returned to nature in a grave marked by a wooden plaque or carving rather than a grey headstone.”

Reflecting nature

The Reception Building at GreenAcres Woodland Burials’ site in Rainford is one of a number of schemes that FCB studios was commissioned to design as part of a scheme that also included landscaping works to expand existing planting, an access road, woodland pathways and car parking.

“The design of the Reception Building was driven by the aspiration to respect and respond to the natural setting and embody the characteristics of the site and our ethos by providing a low energy, sustainable building with a low embodied carbon footprint,” explains Tom.

“The ceremonial space within the Reception Building needed to be ‘spiritually strong’, without being too iconic to appeal to a wide range of users, with an emphasis on the relationship between the indoor space and the external landscape, the filtering of light and the views from outside the building.”

To achieve this, FCB studios designed a single storey timber framed structure with timber cladding, finished with vertical ribs of untreated larch, which not only reflect the materials and colour palette of the surrounding woodland, but are also reminiscent of the trunks of saplings in some areas of the building.

The building’s striking angles fan gradually upwards and outwards towards the ceremonial space, which is finished by a glass facade that looks out onto the woodland.

Tom continues: “Looking towards the ceremonial space from outside the building, it appears like the stage of a proscenium arch theatre, with the glazed facade framed at the top and both sides by wood that will age naturally with the building. The effect is emphasised by the triangular shaped wings that lead the eye towards the central glazed area.”

The glazed facade both enables those inside the building to look out onto the woodland and reflects dappled light and mirror images of the trees onto the building to help it merge with its surroundings. The top section of the glazing is covered by wooden brise soleil to reduce solar gain, while continuing the theme of connecting the building with the landscape. Meanwhile, the lower section opens up to help brings the outdoors into the ceremonial space.

“Natural light floods into the building through the glass facade,” Tom continues, “and, thanks to the wooden brise soleil, this creates shadows that dapple the floor with patterns that imitate the shadows created by trees in the light outside.

“The window also enables those inside the building to feel connected with the outdoors, helping to create the sense of a natural celebration.”

Flexible roofing

While the building’s facades are characterised by the use of wood as a building material, the architect needed a roofing solution that would offer flame-free installation due to the location’s inherent fire risk.

“As a practice we would normally opt for a PVC-based single ply system as a default non-flame roofing solution,” Tom continues. “However, we discussed the alternatives with both the client and the contractor and decided to use a TPO system for both buildability and environmental reasons.”

Firestone’s UltraPly TPO was selected for the roof of the Reception Building because it offered a cost effective and durable option with accelerated testing indicating a service life in excess of 30 years. Offering rapid and flame-free installation to waterproof the building quickly with no fire risk, the system is also flexible enough to map the contours of the roof exactly but does not contain any plasticisers that can be released into the atmosphere as a pollutant.

Explains John McMullan, Commercial Manager at Firestone Building Products: “UltraPly TPO is a flexible Thermoplastic PolyOlefin (TPO) roofing membrane suitable for a variety of flat roofing commercial and industrial roofing applications.

“Light in colour and environmentally friendly, it is robust enough to withstand extremes of weather but light enough to facilitate ease of installation.”

The UltraPly roofing system was laid onto the building’s insulated roof and adhered to the substrate. The seams were hot air welded to form a permanent watertight bond.

A ballast of pebbles was then used to cover the waterproofing membrane, creating a finish that complements the wooden structure and the ‘natural materials’ design brief.

Tom continues: “The UltraPly TPO membrane provided a low profile, flexible and environmentally sound waterproofing system that offered robust puncture resistance, allowing the roof to be finished with decorative ballast.”

Energy efficient build

While there are no solar panels on the roof of the Reception Building, a PV installation on the maintenance barn roof helps towards the electrical requirements for the building as part of an energy conservation and renewables strategy across the site.

Tom comments: “The Reception Building has been designed with an inherently low energy use profile, with extensive use of natural light and natural ventilation and a building fabric that has been designed with high thermal insulation performance that exceeds Part L.

“As a result, the principle energy demand for the Reception Building is space heating during the winter months.”

Once again, the answer to the energy for the building’s space heating requirements has been provided by the woodland, with a wood boiler that uses timber coppiced from the surrounding woodland used as the only heat source.

Tom adds: “Once again, the heat energy source demonstrates just how much the natural environment of the setting has been built into every aspect of the Reception Building project, proving that low impact construction schemes are possible in even the most eco-conscious environments.”