Combination Of Farewell, Memorials & Nature
Slightly southwards from Cuijk, a unique project was developed for the Land of Cuijk and Maasduinen: Buitenplaats Zevenhutten. Zevenhutten has been operational since 18 November 2018 and consists of a crematorium, a field café, and a meeting place surrounded by 3500 m² of nature and recreation area.
Proud owners are Piet and Bianca Schrijen. Piet: “I would have liked to set up this project ten years ago, but due to various procedures it took a long time.” He grew up in the funeral industry and knew at the age of 14 that working in the funeral business was exactly what he wanted. “I have seen and noticed in practice how things work in many crematoria. The time factor often remains critical and not always in a positive sense. We want to facilitate a farewell event in accordance with the conditions of the users. Innovation is in our blood and based on our experiences, we have an ideal picture in mind. A beautiful building in a wonderful setting, a place where visitors do not experience (time) pressure in any way. The result is: Zevenhutten.”
Anyone walking around in the beautiful crematorium feels that idealism was the driving force for the operators, and not the funds. Piet: “We limit the number of our daily services to two or three at most. We like to have our positioning determined by the people who have used our services here. They are experience experts and will tell others about us. What we would like to hear afterwards is that people feel that they are in charge themselves; they decide how to say goodbye to a loved one and they can consider this accommodation as theirs for that moment.”
Experts in their profession In order to make a choice for the cremation installation, discussions were held with three cremator manufacturers, including DFW Europe. Piet: “We simply gained the most confidence in this party. DFW Europe’s knowledge lives up to its promise during discussions held. For us, those people are experts in their profession. They never give ‘no’ for an answer and they think in solutions.
Of course we have also experienced that technology and architecture go together like cat and dog. DFW Europe is obviously looking for more space for the technical installations, but the architect has other plans. However, the conclusion in the end is that the entire process went well. The completion, which is also quite important, is followed by appropriate training provided by Desiree of DFW Europe. If you still come across issues afterwards, the team is always willing to help. The fact that the call is not answered by an answerphone is a great plus.”