Designing a Place of Honour for a Northern BC Community

The District of Tumbler Ridge needed to expand its municipal cemetery and turned to Urban Systems to prepare a Cemetery Plan built through community engagement and exploration of design options. Years later, our team returned to lead the detailed design and construction. The centerpiece is an entry arbor: cantilevered beams, echoing the community's forest industry, rise into a cathedral-like form that opens to the sky as visitors pass through. A dry creek bed serves as a scattering area, and a viewpoint looks out over the adjacent valley. Natural materials — slate paving, gabion seats and posts, native plants — help the cemetery blend into its surroundings. The result is a place of pride, respect, honouring, and meditation for Tumbler Ridge residents.