Columbaria Features & Benefits

Superior Quality and Craftsmanship

Sunset’s Columbaria are designed to create elegant and dignified models, fabricated using only the finest materials. The granite doors are available in a wide assortment of granite colours and are chosen to complement and enhance the design. As with all of Sunset’s products, one is assured of superior quality and craftsmanship.

Clean lines, cutting edge designs, beautiful landscaping as well as years of experience go together in creating each columbaria. Sunset offers some of the most distinct and elegant styles available as well as the opportunity to customize to your specific needs. Our columbaria are highly visible and attractive features, imparting a feeling of peace and care for the deceased, but also for all who are visiting the grounds.

Please review the following key features . . .

Planning a Future Columbarium Project?

Columbarium Features

Foundations

Foundations are the concrete base on which the columbarium rests. The design of the foundation depends on the ground conditions – what works in one cemetery will not always be appropriate for another cemetery. The foundation can be simply slab on grade, require concrete or screw piles that could be 30 feet deep, or be a single pour that is four or five feet thick. This process can be managed completely by Sunset to eliminate any worry and headaches, or in collaboration with, or entirely by, the Cemetery or Municipality.

Cemetery foundations

Frames

Sunset’s interior aluminum frame is designed to withstand extreme temperature fluctuations while providing the strength and flexibility to create innovative columbaria forms. Because of the flexibility of the aluminum frame, a Sunset columbarium can achieve specific curves and lines that are not possible with heavier, more cumbersome granite cores. For innovative designs, Sunset’s aluminum frame is unbeatable.

Cemetery frames

 Inner Locking Security Doors

Sunset’s Aluminum interior-locking door system is by far one of our most appreciated columbarium features. Not only does it provide families with peace of mind that their loved ones are safely secured, but it also provides cemetery management with that second level of security as granite face plates are removed for inscription. The concealed inner Aluminum door locking system is corrosion resistant and the perfect choice for our North American climate. This is a standard feature in all of our commercial models.

Granite door fronts can be attached with rosettes. Using a key-specific screw driver, the rosettes are easily secured in place. For those who wish to have a more seamless look, Sunset’s “rosette-less” system is the perfect choice. Designed for its simple elegance and refined lines, this concealed hardware system draws a lot of attention for its beauty and style.

Extra granite door fronts come in two thicknesses based on whether they are intended for inscriptions or plaques. The holes for plaques can be pre-drilled on each granite face in order to ensure continuity.

Columbarium Key Lockable inner door

Art & Accessories

There are a number of different styles of art and accessories to choose from in order to individualize your columbaria. Below are some examples:

  • Artwork:
    Sunset has a talented group of graphic designers to guide and assist Cemeteries or Municipalities in creating that perfect custom design. Images can be selected from our vast assortment of existing designs. Custom designs can also be created to suit individual tastes and preferences. Any artwork to be engraved must meet your approval before they are etched onto the granite surface.
  • Laser etching:
    On high-gloss granite surfaces, laser etching allows for personalized artistic expression by playing off the reflective properties of granite. With access to laser technology, Sunset is able to translate images, photographs or designs onto granite surfaces.
  • Accessories:
    Bronze appliqués or porcelain photographs can be mounted onto the granite surface in order to add another creative dimension to the columbaria. Often we will carve a recess into which the accessory is placed for further protection from the elements and from flying debris from maintenance work.
  • Sculptured Architectural Features:
    Sculptural elements can be engraved into the granite in order to create decorative features that provide depth, pattern and texture to each piece. With access to the most highly coveted granite sculpture artists in the world, Sunset can provide your cemetery with the perfect piece of sculpture for any columbarium or garden setting.
Art Accessories

Niches – Sunset offers two options for interior niche cores.

Nylene Niche

Sunset is the first to introduce new Nylene materials as part of our interior niche cores. Inert to the environment, lighter in weight and pound-for-pound stronger than steel in compression, Nylene is proving to be a winner in the latest of columbarium design technology. Nylene was first developed by the military for use in the M1 Abrams tank and is now used on the underbelly of the Predator Drones. As a cost savings alternative to aluminum, Sunset has employed Nylene in thousands of niches across the country—savings we gladly pass onto our customers.

Available size: 11⅞” x 11⅞” x 15½” (W x H x D) or 11⅞” x 11⅞” x 11⅞” (W x H x D)

3. Nylene Niche e1667328513715

Nylene ™ Niche

Aluminum Niche

The Aluminum core is known for its corrosion resistance and lightweight flexibility. All of Sunset’s interior aluminum cores are powder coated to not only ensure a beautiful look, but to also prevent metal urns from fusing to the aluminum niche.

Available size: 12” x 12” x 16” (W x H x D) or 12” x 12” x 12” (W x H x D)

Nylene ™ Niche

Aluminum ™ Niche