Martini Completes Cemetery Expansion – Stirling Brown Architects

Newton, MA – A.J. Martini, Inc. of Winchester announced the completion of an expansion to Walnut Court at Newton Cemetery. The Walnut Court garden is situated in the northeast corner of the 100-acre garden cemetery and provides above-ground burial options in the columbarium building and the new mausoleum facility.
The Martini team worked closely with Stirling Brown Architects to construct the new mausoleum and adjoining fountain pool area and to expand the existing columbarium with a 1700sf addition.
The Walnut Court project incorporated intricate detail work throughout the interior spaces and exterior as well as challenging concrete formwork. A variety of specialty items were required from niche assemblies to crypt construction. Underground site work included moving and relocating the gas and electric utilities, sewer with pump station, and infiltration bed.
The addition to the handsome timber frame columbarium features 655 new glass-front, bronze detailed aluminum niches. The new five-level mausoleum building required precise concrete formwork to create 300 crypts with no more than an inch of tolerance in the 61 foot wide building.
A six-foot diameter polished granite fountain was constructed adjoining the columbarium and mausoleum. Consisting of three components, the custom fountain was fabricated and installed creating a consistent drip line along the entire perimeter. The fountain and pool are surrounded by 248 garden niches that are enclosed with polished granite shutters. The expansion also included extensive site and landscape improvements consistent with the garden style cemetery.
The elaborate design incorporates the use of high-end materials including Ludowici red clay roof tiles, copper gutters and dormers, mahogany doors and windows, terrazzo, Weymouth stone, polished granite, and limestone.
The project began in the fall of 2010, progressed through the extreme winter of 2010-2011 and was completed in just 12 months.