Wesley Chapel Cemetery Expansion

Design Opens Site Access and Creates Unique Space for Remembrance and Contemplation

For decades, Norwich Township in Columbus, Ohio had been unable to use four acres of undeveloped land adjacent to the Wesley Chapel Cemetery due to shallow bedrock and site access issues. The township partnered with OHM Advisors to develop a design concept opening access to the site and expanding the cemetery’s public space for gathering and remembering loved ones who have passed.

Our team delivered a concept pushing traditional cemetery design boundaries and complementing the landscape’s natural features. It includes three separate and unique spaces designed to evoke feelings of togetherness, reflection and remembrance. Remembrance Plaza has a labyrinthine design welcoming visitors into the space and offering a walking path and seating areas calling to mind the journey of life. Located creek side within a secluded area of the site is Reflection Garden, whose intimate architectural privacy walls are engraved with inspirational quotes and centered around four custom metal art panels representing the mental, spiritual, physical and emotional pillars of life. Children’s Memory Garden includes a memorial wall for name inscription and a winding pathway to a child-sized wishing well containing inspirational peace rocks and surrounded by rebar daisy sculptures and robust garden plantings.

Opened to the public in 2022, the entire four-acre expanded reflection space includes green infrastructure components such as French drains, permeable pavers and sustainable wood benches incorporated due to the shallow bedrock of the site. Brought to life by the completed construction are standalone memorials, scattering gardens, nontraditional cinerary columbaria and lush gardens in a park-like setting—a design that redefines the traditional cemetery and creates a unique space for remembrance and contemplation.

Project highlights: site design, landscape architecture, public spaces