The 'Green Niches' at Roques Blanques Cemetery, nominated for 'Best environmental initiative' in the State

El Papiol (Barcelona), August 2019.- The Comarcal Cemetery Parc de Roques Blanques in El Papiol is once again a candidate for the Best Environmental Initiative award in the sixth edition of the Spanish Cemeteries Competition, with the "Green Niches" project. This initiative aims to revitalize Mediterranean-style burial niches by reinterpreting them as modular vertical gardens with aromatic plants native to the Collserola Natural Park. The cemetery, publicly owned and managed by Àltima, is the only Catalan cemetery competing in this category of the national competition, organized by the funeral magazine Adiós Cultural.

This is the third time a proposal from Roques Blanques has been selected as a candidate for these awards. The cemetery has won twice before: last year with the Forest Path project and in 2015 for the Calm Forest and Family Trees projects. “Roques Blanques was established 35 years ago with the intention of being a space fully integrated into Collserola, and we continue to work on all projects with this philosophy. Furthermore, we are noticing that more and more people are seeking respectful, ecological, and environmentally integrated burials that also symbolize the human life cycle and a return to the earth through nature,” explains Joan Ventura, General Director of Àltima Cemeteries.

The Green Niches at Roques Blanques, which are competing for the Best Environmental Initiative award, are up against three other candidates from Navarra, Valencia, and Zaragoza. The winning project will be selected next fall by a specialized jury in this field. In contrast, the winners of the other four competition categories – Best Cemetery, Best Architectural Monument, Best Open Doors Activity, and Best Story – will be chosen through a public vote on the Adiós magazine website.

Green Niches: Burials Transformed into Vertical Gardens

The Green Niches initiative was launched last October at Roques Blanques, designed by the prestigious architecture and landscaping firm Batlle i Roig Arquitectes, who also designed the cemetery in 1984. It consists of a modular vertical garden with native aromatic species – adapted to the local climate conditions – featuring great chromatic variability. This creates a new landscape of rest and contemplation within the cemetery, while improving environmental qualities in harmony with the mountain and promoting biodiversity. The Green Niches are, ultimately, a canvas of life that offers the best setting to honor the deceased while connecting with nature.

This initiative complements other alternatives provided by the cemetery for the preservation of Collserola’s native species, such as the Forest Path, the Calm Forest, Family Trees, or the Rest Garden and Fountain.