Denning’s Funeral Homes
Based in rural Southwestern Ontario, Denning’s Funeral Homes has a number of locations throughout the area. The Denning family has been serving their communities through funeral services since 1925. Bakker Design & Build had the privilege of building and renovating three funeral homes for Denning’s in Watford, Strathroy, and Ailsa Craig (the third oldest funeral home in Ontario). The designs were modern, meeting the changing aspects and growth of Denning’s while still supporting their long-standing presence in the community and their desire to carry on their traditional reputation.
Each of these locations required a functional yet comforting design to support Denning’s work of serving families. For the Watford location, we ensured the design included a number of hallways to accommodate waiting lines and avoided the need for people to wait outside. We also built rooms with customizable size, so each funeral could be adjusted to according to its size. This was to help Denning’s ensure that each funeral, whether large or small, would feel comfortable in the space provided. Retractable walls were incorporated into the structure to help accommodate different funeral sizes as well. Ailsa Craig consisted of a complete renovation of the main viewing rooms to help the owners meet Denning’s desire to make each family feel comforted and to have ample space and waiting line room in the home.
We worked closely with Denning’s to ensure that each part of the design and build met the needs of the company and would assist in meeting the needs of their clients for many years to come.