Lakewood Welcome Center: A Place Dedicated to Memory

The Welcome Center is a multifunctional building designed for the community within Lakewood Cemetery in Minnesota. With a special focus on sustainability and accessibility, the Welcome Center aims to become a new landmark while preserving the site’s profound historical and cultural significance.

Designed by Snow Kreilich Architects in collaboration with Miller Dunwiddie and Ten x Ten Landscape Architecture, the project redefines the role of the cemetery in contemporary society, creating an intimate and welcoming space made with durable materials intended to stand the test of time.

With a total area of 2,300 sq. m, nestled in greenery, the Welcome Center serves as a gateway to the grounds of Lakewood Cemetery. It offers a serene and inclusive environment dedicated to reflection, learning, and community connection. As one of the first net-zero energy buildings in Minneapolis, it exemplifies environmental responsibility and provides a space where families and visitors can explore themes of memory and commemoration.

Interview with Matt Kreilich, Principal at Snow Kreilich

How does the new Welcome Center relate with the historical significance and traditional context of the Lakewood Cemetery?

"Lakewood Cemetery is an iconic 150-year-old institution in the heart of Minneapolis with a rich architectural and landscape legacy, which the project team drew upon in designing the new Welcome Center and entry gardens. Originally designed as a lawn plan cemetery in the 19^th century, curvilinear roads, rolling topography, and a varied mature tree canopy define the character of this 100-hectares cemetery. To properly situate the Welcome Center back into this historic landscape, we reconstructed a 2-hectares site, which includes the repositioning of a major road. Our work revolved around creating a more resilient, relevant, and accessible public face for this original lawn plan cemetery campus that would feel welcoming to all kinds of visitors to these historic grounds year-round.The building was conceived as a pavilion in a park. The liminal space beneath its continuous canopy blurs the boundary between building and site, while the colonnade nods to the neoclassical façade of the neighboring former administration building. The Welcome Center and the existing administration building are further connected through an open garden and newly-installed water feature in the middle of the two buildings, creating spaces for both gathering and quiet contemplation. 
As a long-time leader in the industry, Lakewood continues to innovate, and this new Welcome Center demonstrates the organization’s longstanding commitment to design innovation with this unique building that functions as a place for welcoming, gathering, education, planning, and administration".

What criteria guided the selection of materials for the project?

"Our careful material selection was driven by sustainability goals, low carbon footprint, durability, and aesthetics. As an institution, Lakewood has historically designed its facilities with a lifespan of over 100 years. All of Lakewood’s public buildings are primarily clad in stone, which influenced our decision to use stone for the new Welcome Center. Flint Hills Limestone was chosen for the primary exterior cladding, reflecting the color palette of the adjacent administration building’s granite stone, and thermally modified Ash was used for the windows, entry areas, and primary wall surfaces in the public interior spaces. Thermal modification enhances Ash’s durability, providing a 20-year warranty and reducing decay by 93%, shrinkage by 80%, and moisture absorption by 55%.
The colonnade is made from cast stone, a durable precast material that allows for the slender scale of the columns. The balance of stone and wood adds warmth and natural beauty to the building, revealing a richness of textures and colors as visitors approach. This combination of materials allows the project to respect its historic context while appearing modern and welcoming.
The interior public spaces are lined with the same thermally modified wood used on the exterior, and Terrazzo is employed throughout the main floors. These materials are not only durable and low-maintenance, but were also selected to meet low-VOC, low-carbon, and high-recycled-content standards".

What were the most challenging aspects of achieving the net-zero energy goal?

"When we were first hired for the project, net-zero energy was not initially on the client’s radar, so one of the biggest initial challenges was convincing the client that pursuing net-zero was an important goal for the long-term success of the building. Our team worked closely with our sustainability consultant, mechanical engineers, and cost estimators to develop life-cycle cost analyses, conduct precedent research, and engage in community outreach to support the decision to aim for net-zero energy.
Once the decision was made, the entire team adopted an all-electric approach. From there, we refined the design through a holistic approach, optimizing the building envelope, glass-to-wall ratio, orientation, and systems. We significantly increased the exterior envelope R-values beyond standard code requirements. A focus on reducing the building load allowed us to make every decision with energy efficiency in mind — down to  the choice to forego a gas fireplace in favor of a water vapor fireplace".

Interview with Ross Altheimer, Principal and Co-Founder of Ten X Ten

Which features of the landscape and community spaces do you believe will have a lasting impact on visitors’ experience and foster the perception of the cemetery as a place of memorial and connection?

"The entry sequence from the city, through the Welcome Center, and into the south garden will have a lasting impact on visitors. We conceived of this strategic procession as moving through the liminal space between the profane and sacred. Guided by curvilinear paths, visitors move from the urban edge through a new set of cemetery gates, and a lush native landscape draws users through and opens up into a series of garden rooms that allow for the transition from city to cemetery. A framework of paths, gardens and water features stitch the building into the cemetery and its cultural landscape. Existing curvilinear roads inspired the arcing accessible pathways and lost historic landscape layers informed new immersive gardens. A fountain provides a still pool of water and a cascade of sound upon entry is framed by an oak bosque providing a shaded space to reflect. The second garden room on the south is the bog garden, which provides an elliptical path that edges a wetland garden with a tamarack planting and lined with tall benches that embrace the users and acts as another place of reflection".

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