Nokia Cemetery Chapel

LPR Architects placed first with its entry “Job” in the chapel design competition held by Nokia Parish. The aim was to find a highly functional, architecturally excellent and feasible building for the Nokia Cemetery that would include a chapel, mortuary and service and social facilities for the cemetery.

In the entry, the building is situated next to the cemetery’s existing assembly square, opening out to the beautifully landscaped cemetery grounds through its main spaces.  The spaces on the main level are divided into two zones. The public areas are separated from employee facilities and situated so that they form a sacred series of spaces, bringing the outside in and serving as an extension to the exterior landscape.

The main entrance is highly ornate, emphasising the solemnity of the building. Entry to the main hall is done through a lower, calming and peaceful atrium. The glass wall facing the cemetery area is central to the design. The church hall is spatially divided into two sections: A majority of the pews are set in a lower, more intimate area, which is set to the side of the main building axis.

Auxiliary rooms are placed immediately adjacent to the main building areas. Staff and office visitors have their own, separate entrance. Rooms not generally needed by the public are placed on the ground level. Service facilities are also situated to make them as unobtrusive as possible.

Every effort is made to make the building structurally simple and clean-lined. The framing and construction types used behind the cladding require no specialised solutions. The architectural and visual language is expressed in a dialogue between the copper sheeting perforated with patterns that wraps around the building and the decorative glass in the church hall.   The goal was to combine architectural and artistic expression with a spiritual message, creating an evocative, calming whole.