(Translated by Doubao) Stepping into Mandai North Crematorium: Reconciling Life and Death in Light, Shadow and Greenery

Stepping into Mandai North Crematorium: Reconciling Life and Death in Light, Shadow and Greenery

 

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https://www.zaobao.com.sg/lifestyle/design-decor/story20260308-8646572?utm_source=android-share&utm_medium=app

2026-03-08

Lianhe Zaobao

Reported by Lin Fangwei

 

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Opened in 2025, Mandai North Crematorium was designed by a team led by architect Pauline Ang. Adopting a contemporary architectural language and shedding ethnic and religious connotations, it soothes the soul with its pure spatial design. The three key spaces for mourning, farewell and cremation are situated on the same horizontal level, enabling the automated movement of coffins. Infused with a biophilic design concept, the building brings greenery into every floor, with light and shadow filtering through glass skylights, easing grief amid the vitality of nature. This space, built for the threshold between life and death, makes farewells gentle and warm.

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Stepping slowly into Mourning Hall 7 of Mandai North Crematorium, architect Pauline Ang asked the reporter softly, "How does it feel? Do you like it?"

 

Few people are ever asked if they like a mourning hall. Grieving relatives and friends usually do not pause to ponder their feelings about the space where they bid their final farewells to their loved ones. Standing in the center of the hall, the reporter looked up through the glass skylight—afternoon sunlight streamed in through the hanging green branches, casting a soft glow on the pale maple wood seats inside. At that moment, the heaviness in the heart slowly lifted, replaced by a light sense of relief. The reporter heard their own voice say, somewhat surprised, "I like this space."

 

Pauline Ang (center), Director of the Design and Research Studio at CPG Consultants, oversaw the design and construction of Mandai North Crematorium and the Garden of Serenity, an ash scattering garden. She was assisted by Zhang Yingying (left), who was in charge of architectural coordination, and architect Gao Xianzhe. (Photographed by Bai Yanlin)

 

Mandai North Crematorium and the Garden of Serenity were officially opened on 15 August 2025, covering a total area of 2.4 hectares. The crematorium features six mourning halls with connected viewing rooms for relatives and friends to bid their final farewells to the deceased, and an additional 18 cremation facilities on-site.

 

The original Mandai Crematorium, completed in 2004, stands adjacent to the newly built Mandai North Crematorium. As Singapore’s population ages, the annual number of deaths is projected to rise from 25,000 in 2024 to 40,000 in 2040, making the simultaneous operation of the two crematoriums a necessary measure.

 

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Construction of Mandai North Crematorium began in June 2017, with the architectural design undertaken by Singapore’s CPG Group. The group’s history traces back to the former Public Works Department established in 1833, which also designed the original Mandai Crematorium completed in 2004. Leading this design project was 49-year-old Pauline Ang, who has been overseeing the Mandai North project for a decade.

 

The reporter has always believed that funeral rituals are held to comfort the grief of the living. But architect Pauline Ang takes a broader and more far-reaching view: "A crematorium can be seen as the final chapter of the architecture of life. This space serves not only the living, but also the deceased—it is both an end and a boundary, a frontier between life and death that allows the living to bid a proper farewell. When designing, architects must both soothe the grief of the living and grant the deceased their final dignity."

 

Erasing the Factory-like Image of Crematoriums

To mark the opening of Mandai North Crematorium, CPG published a book titled The Making of Mandai North Crematorium. Pauline Ang, a Master of Architecture graduate from Columbia University in the United States, contributed a chapter titled How to Say Goodbye: The Architecture of Crematoria. She noted that as the West shifted from burial to cremation, the crematorium emerged as a new architectural form in the early 20th century.

 

There is a fine line between a "crematorium" and a "factory", and Pauline Ang describes the actual operation of a crematorium as a "factory-like" process: "At its core, the primary function of a crematorium is the technical procedure of cremating human remains. In terms of architectural attributes, it is more like a factory than a sacred place." Such a straightforward description is truly striking. She said that to erase this image, crematoriums have since integrated spaces for mourning rituals, reflecting humanity’s philosophical reflections on life and death.

 

CPG published a book titled The Making of Mandai North Crematorium to mark the opening of the crematorium. (Photographed by Lin Fangwei)

 

Singapore has extremely limited land resources. Since 1998, the maximum tenure for burial plots has been set at 15 years to free up land for new burial plots or other developments. At the end of the tenure, the government will compulsorily exhume the remains, which will be cremated or relocated and reinterred in private columbaria. This policy has changed Singaporeans’ traditional belief in being laid to rest in the earth, and cremation is now the widely preferred option over burial.

 

The current site of Mandai North Crematorium was first developed in 1982 as a dedicated facility for cremating exhumed human remains. The facility was demolished after 30 years of use, and construction of Mandai North Crematorium on the same site began five years later. Pauline Ang said that the new generation of crematoriums caters to people of different ethnicities and faiths, and for this reason, it abandons ethnic and religious symbols in favor of a contemporary architectural language.

 

Mandai North Crematorium abandons ethnic and religious symbols, adopting a contemporary architectural language. (Provided by CPG Group, photographed by Finbarr Fallon)

 

Pauline Ang pointed out that the process of mourning, paying respects, and watching the coffin move automatically to the incinerator symbolizes the deceased’s final journey in the mortal world; the cremation process is initiated as soon as the coffin disappears behind the door, a unique procedure in Singapore. Eastern and Western cultures, as well as different ethnic groups, hold contrasting attitudes towards witnessing the blazing flames of cremation—the West views cremation as brutal and unnatural, while some ethnic groups see it as rebirth through fire.

 

As the new generation views death with a more open perspective, people continue to re-examine the distance between the living and death, interpreting it in different ways. Pauline Ang said that the viewing room in the original Mandai Crematorium was built above the coffin conveyance corridor, forcing the living to look down to bid their final farewells; in the new Mandai North facility, the viewing room and the conveyance corridor are on the same floor, separated only by a sheet of glass, allowing the living to watch the coffin enter the incinerator from a much closer distance.

 

Mourning, Farewell and Cremation on the Same Horizontal Level

When planning the crematorium’s space, Pauline Ang revealed that two distinct circulation paths must be designed within the same building—one for the living and one for the deceased. She refers to this as "choreographing the final farewell". Singapore’s National Environment Agency promoted the automation of coffin movement to reduce manpower requirements, which meant the coffins had to move in a straight line on a single level, and the three key spaces for mourning, farewell and cremation had to be situated on the same horizontal plane.

 

Architects must design two distinct circulation paths within the same building—one for the living and one for the deceased. (Provided by CPG Group, photographed by Finbarr Fallon)

 

Mourners have two routes to reach the mourning halls: those driving enter from the second basement level, while those taking chartered buses alight at the first basement level and take the escalator or lift directly to the first floor. After the hearse parks outside the mourning hall, the coffin is transferred onto an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV). Reflective metal plates are embedded in the building’s pillars and seats, allowing the AGVs to achieve precise positioning and navigation through laser and reflection technology, guiding the coffins to move autonomously into the mourning hall, conveyance hall and finally the incinerator.

 

Reflective metal plates on pillars and seats enable AGVs to achieve precise positioning and navigation through laser and reflection technology, guiding the autonomous movement of coffins. (Provided by CPG Group, photographed by Finbarr Fallon)

 

Mandai North Crematorium is built according to the natural terrain of the site. The cremation facilities, which require high, voluminous spaces, are positioned at the rearmost and highest part of the site, meeting functional needs while making efficient use of space. The spaces are arranged in a sequential flow for mourning, farewell, conveyance and cremation, creating a rational and streamlined circulation that embodies Singaporean efficiency.

 

A simple, straightforward space undoubtedly lightens the burden of grief. Yet when the procedures of life and death are outsourced to technology, the lack of human warmth may feel too cold for the bereaved. On 22 August 2025, Lianhe Zaobao published a thought-provoking report with the headline: "Collecting ashes by scanning a QR code—too impersonal?"

 

Abundant Greenery to Soothe the Soul

Pauline Ang pointed out that the architectural team collaborated with landscape architecture firm Plantwerkz to infuse extensive biophilic design elements, skillfully overcoming the spatial and environmental constraints of the Mandai North site. Adjacent to a busy main road and nearby columbaria, the crematorium has plants and gardens integrated into every floor, creating a unique, open and lush green sanctuary.

 

Mandai North Crematorium and the Garden of Serenity adopt a biophilic design concept. (Provided by CPG Group, photographed by Finbarr Fallon)

 

Furthermore, the vibrant greenery calms the mind and helps alleviate grief and tension. Seating in the waiting area on the first basement level is arranged around a sunken garden, with ample natural light streaming in through glass skylights. As mourners take the lift or escalator to the first floor, they are greeted by the expansive greenery of the Garden of Serenity on their way to the mourning halls. Inside the halls, green branches and leaves hang from the glass skylights, with natural light spilling into the room, as if gently embracing the living and the deceased, comforting grieving hearts.

 

Mourners are greeted by the expansive greenery of the Garden of Serenity on their way to the mourning halls. (Provided by CPG Group, photographed by Finbarr Fallon)

 

Natural light streams in through skylights at the front of the mourning halls, with green plants hanging outside the windows. (Provided by CPG Group, photographed by Finbarr Fallon)

 

The biophilic concept is embodied in every design detail of the facility. Pauline Ang noted that the lime panels on the building’s exterior are carved with irregular three-dimensional vertical lines, echoing the hanging plants on the building’s skylights. Mandai North Crematorium and the Garden of Serenity offer the public a non-traditional, eco-friendly option for interment. She said that from an aerial perspective, the Garden of Serenity is designed in the shape of a leaf, with ash scattering paths spread across the garden inspired by the vivid imagery of leaf veins. Four winding paths meander through the garden, allowing families to choose any path to scatter the deceased’s ashes on pebbles, where the ashes naturally seep into the soil.

 

The lime panels on the building’s exterior are carved with irregular three-dimensional vertical lines, echoing the hanging plants on the building’s skylights. (Provided by CPG Group, photographed by Finbarr Fallon)

 

The imagery of green leaves evokes profound emotions. As the saying goes, "Fallen leaves return to their roots"—humans are like leaves, falling from the tree of life to the ground, returning to nature and being reborn.

 

The Garden of Serenity is designed in the shape of a leaf, with ash scattering paths spread across the garden inspired by the imagery of leaf veins. (Provided by CPG Group, photographed by Finbarr Fallon)