How to Design a Funeral Home

Funeral directors have the difficult task of running a business that deals with people at their worst - in their time of anger, shock, and grief.  Careful planning of the design of the funeral home can help to maximize the effectiveness of these interactions.

It is important that the design of your funeral home is such that it makes wakes, arrangements, and the actual funeral go smoothly for all the participants.

• Build a particularly large room for arrangements.  The arrangements are typically the first task that the funeral director has to guide the family through after death of their loved one.  Family members gather in the office of the owner or director of the funeral home to begin the planning process.  The group involved can be quite large as often extended family members participate in the planning.


• Account for an embalming area.  Even if you do not plan on doing your own embalming, you will need to have a fully functional embalming room.  As you setup your funeral home, look into local institutions that can perform this service for you off site.


• Ensure that the viewing room is as large as your building will allow.  The viewing room is the room that will house the casket, flowers, and mourners during the wake.  Think about a space that can easily accommodate 200-300 people with a large number of folding chairs or pew style seating.


• Consider a smaller viewing room.  Some funeral homes opt to add this as an overflow area, or for a more intimate space for the immediate family.  This can help the logistics of the funeral, and can help reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed as much as possible.


• Maintain a smaller office area.  This can provide a private place for immediate family members to talk about family business matters in a more personal setting.


• Consider a more child friendly location.  This would be an additional room with a water fountain, as well as toys and magazines.  Bored children can make a proper wake or funeral a much more chaotic task.  Anything that can be done to simplify the process for the grieving family should be done.