The Northern Memorial Park Depot in Glenroy, Victoria, has been awarded the prestigious 2025 Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture, recognizing its groundbreaking approach to combining industrial functionality with human-centered design. The facility, designed by Searle x Waldron Architecture, serves as both a maintenance shed and workplace for staff who care for memorial parks under the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust.
The award jury praised the architects for developing an entirely fresh approach to an unusual design challenge, creating a supportive environment for employees working in emotionally demanding roles while accommodating the necessary vehicles and equipment. The project emerged from close collaboration between the architects, their client, and landscape consultants to embed the depot within an evolving ecological system of woody meadows, wetlands, and future public spaces.
The innovative design reframes the traditional cemetery concept, presenting it not only as a place of grief but also as a space for life and regeneration. The architects employed strategic site planning and a permeable green mesh facade to draw significant existing trees into the building's composition. Lifted skirts at the entrances reveal the recycled brick base and offer glimpses of the timber frame structure beneath.
Freed from conventional workplace constraints, the design embraces the organic qualities of a timber treehouse. Enclosed pods and open walkways are suspended within human-scale glulam trusses, forming an intricate canopy of spaces that connect both the depot functions and the surrounding landscape. Stairs, planted areas, and meeting spaces cascade between levels in what the jury described as a joyful sequence, offering employees the full biophilic benefits of large-scale timber construction.
Sustainability played an integral role throughout the project, with architects selecting low-embodied carbon materials including mass timber and recycled brick. The design incorporates naturally ventilated circulation spaces, on-site energy generation systems, and water conservation measures, all supporting the ambitious net-zero operational target. These environmental considerations align with the facility's role in maintaining memorial parks and supporting ecological regeneration.
The comprehensive project team included architect Searle x Waldron Architecture with project members Suzannah Waldron, Jack Jordan, Lisa Gerstman, Hannah Zhu, Pearl Dempsey, and Jack Murray. Supporting consultants included Building Engineering as the builder, Oculus as landscape consultant, OPS Engineers for structural work, and Lucid Consulting Australia for services consultation. Additional specialists covered building surveying, traffic consultation, accessibility consulting, fire engineering, town planning, cost management, signage and wayfinding, acoustic consultation, and water management.
Located on Wurundjeri Country, the Northern Memorial Park Depot was reviewed by Domenic Trimboli and featured in Architecture Australia's September/October 2025 issue. The project photography was captured by Peter Bennetts. According to the National Architecture Awards Jury, Searle x Waldron has brought rare humanity to what could have been a purely utilitarian facility, setting a new benchmark for industrial workplace design that prioritizes both environmental sustainability and employee wellbeing.
