Parks & Public Spaces
SYCAMORE LAKE
Service Corporation International
Whittier, California
Collaborating and developing a strong relationship with the client over the last 12 years, WHITIN DESIGN WORKS is the lead design consultant as phases of the Master Plan are developed. Sycamore Lake is the first in a series of lakes creating a showpiece destination within the recently opened 400-acre Sycamore Valley at Rose Hills Memorial Park. Until the Master Plan was created, this area consisted of raw land which was being developed on an “ad hoc” basis, driven by sales and short term engineering solutions.
Sycamore Lake is the 1st lake of the 4-lake system, the backbone of the Master Planned development of Sycamore Valley. These lakes will extend for a half mile along the existing drainage swale, dropping 80 feet in elevation over its length. Sycamore Lake encompasses both traditional and contemporary aspects of cemetery design. The lake is designed as a traditional urban park lake, with a 35-foot geyser, large trees, lake edge walkways and a 10-foot waterfall and pedestrian bridge connecting the 2 levels of the 1.5 acre lake. The variety of creative internment choices include 2 promontories in the lake with niche seat walls and private mausoleums as well as semi-private estates and scattering lawns at the lake edge. The inventory features are designed to complement the pastoral setting without suggesting the cemetery use. This project was completed in 2007.