Technical field The invention relates to a burial complex. More particularly, the invention relates to a burial complex on a burial site, and to a building structure for a burial site.

Background art Burial or interment is the ritual act of placing a dead person or animal, sometimes with objects, into the ground. This is generally accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objects in it, and covering it over.

After death, a body will decay. Burial is not necessarily a public health requirement. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advises that only corpses carrying an infectious disease strictly require burial.

Human burial practices are, however, the manifestation of the human desire to demonstrate "respect for the dead". Cultures vary in their mode of respect. Some reasons for burial include, for example, respect for the physical remains. If left lying on top of the ground, scavengers may eat the corpse, considered disrespectful to the deceased in many (but not all) cultures. Burial can also be seen as an attempt to bring closure to the deceased's family and friends. Many cultures believe in an afterlife. Burial is sometimes believed to be a necessary step for an individual to reach the afterlife. Many religions prescribe a particular way to live, which includes customs relating to disposal of the dead. A decomposing body releases unpleasant gases related to decomposition. As such, burial is also seen as a means of preventing these smells from expanding into open air. In many cultures, human corpses were usually buried in soil. The roots of burial as a practice reach back into the Middle Palaeolithic era and coincide with the appearance of Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens, in Europe and Africa, respectively. As a result, burial grounds are found throughout the world. Through time, mounds of earth, temples, and underground caverns were used to store the dead bodies of ancestors. In modern times, the custom of burying dead people below ground, with a stone marker to indicate the burial place, is used in most cultures; although other means such as cremation are becoming more popular in the West. In addition, cremation is the norm in India and mandatory in Japan.

Some burial practices are heavily ritualised, while others are simply practical.

Natural burial is the process by which a body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally in soil. Embalming is the practice of preserving a body against decay and is used in many cultures. Mummification is a more extensive method of embalming, further delaying the decay process. Bodies are often buried wrapped in a shroud or placed in a coffin (or in some cases, a casket). In the United States, coffins are usually covered by a grave liner or a burial vault, which prevents the coffin from collapsing under the weight of the earth or floating away during a flood.

These containers slow the decomposition process by (partially) physically blocking decomposing bacteria and other organisms from accessing the corpse. An additional benefit of using containers to hold the body is that if the soil covering the corpse is washed away by a flood or some other natural process then the corpse will still not be exposed to open air. A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb, or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum. A Christian mausoleum may sometimes include a chapel. As urban space is becoming more and more premium, and scarce, the availability for such space to be allocated to the burial or internment of human remains has become less, and therefore more problematic. The consequence of this is that burial sites often have to be placed a great distance from a central urban area, and this restricts travel or regular travel to these areas by mourners of the deceased. The invention provides a more convenient and cost effective burial or internment of a deceased's body or remains at a centralised urban burial site, providing for the many differing types of religious or cultural requirements of the local population. The invention also provides a more cost effective use of the amount of ground needed to provide for the burial or internment of a deceased's body or remains, and the more conveniently situated location of the ground used for such burial or internment.

Disclosure of the invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a burial complex comprising:

- at least one burial site having at least one section for housing human remains in the ground of the burial site;

- a plurality of building structures for housing human remains being locatable on the burial site;

- at least one of the building structures having at least two storeys and being able to house a plurality of mausoleums; and

- at least one of the building structures having at least two storeys and having a plurality of burial spaces on each floor of the building structure, each of the burial spaces being able to house at least one burial box in soil conditions.

Further according to the invention there may further be at least one building structure for housing a venue for a religious or memorial ceremony such as, for example, a funeral ceremony and/or a social or catered function. Even further according to the invention there may be at least one building structure for housing a venue for one or more businesses associated with the provision of funeral or internment related goods or services. In one form of the invention a burial box may be in the form of a coffin or a casket.

In a further form of the invention the plurality of burial boxes houseable in soil conditions on each floor of a multi storey building structure may be placeable into a burial space which includes a floor space of the building structure, such as a concrete or similar floor, the burial space being surroundable by soil, being able to hold at least one burial box and being coverable with a further layer of soil. Additional decomposing bacteria and worms may be added to the soil with which a burial box may be covered, and in which the burial box may be placed. It will be understood that this additional decomposing bacteria and worms may be used to assist with decomposition of the human remains and other biological material.

It will further be understood that each burial box housed in a burial space in the described soil conditions present in the burial complex of the invention forms a grave site and as such there may be a suitable tombstone that may be placeable over each such grave site if required.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a building structure locateable on a burial site comprising at least two storeys and which is able to house a plurality of burial boxes in soil conditions on each floor of the building structure.

In one form of the invention each of the plurality of burial boxes houseable in soil conditions on each floor of a building structure may be placeable into a burial space which includes a floor of the building structure, such as a concrete or similar floor, it may be surrounded by soil, and it may be coverable with a further layer of soil. Additional decomposition bacteria and worms may be added to the soil with which a burial box may be covered, and in which the burial box may be placed. It will be understood that this additional decomposition bacteria and worms may be used to assist with decomposition of the human remains and other biological material.

It will further be understood that each burial box housed in the soil conditions in a building structure of the invention forms a grave site and as such a suitable tombstone may be placeable over each such grave site if required.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method comprising forming a plurality of burial spaces on each floor of the building structure, each burial space being able to hold a burial box in soil conditions, each of the burial spaces being formed from a portion of floor space of the building structure with each such portion of the floor space being surroundable by soil, and at least one burial box being placeable in each burial space and being coverable with a further layer of soil. Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 shows a side view of a burial complex, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 shows an overhead view of a portion of a burial complex, according to a further embodiment of the invention;

Figure 3 shows a side view of a two storey building structure housing a plurality of burial boxes in soil conditions, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4 shows a side view of a portion of a burial site, including a portion of a ground floor of the two storey building structure of Figure 3;

Figure 5 shows a side view of a first floor of the two storey building structure of Figure 3; Figure 6 shows a side view of a second floor of the two storey building structure of Figure 3; Figure 7 shows a side view of a two storey building structure for a plurality of mausoleums and a two storey building structure for burial boxes in soil conditions, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 8 shows a side view of a two storey building structure for a plurality of mausoleums with a porte cochere leading to an elevator, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 9 shows a side view of a three storey building structure for a plurality of mausoleums, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 10 shows a side view of a three storey building structure for a plurality of mausoleums with a porte cochere leading to an elevator, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 1 1 shows a sectioned side view of each floor of a three storey building structure for a plurality of burial boxes in soil conditions on each floor;

Figure 12 shows a sectioned side view of each floor of a three storey building structure for a plurality of mausoleums on each floor; and

Figure 13 shows sectioned side view of a three storey building structure for a plurality of mausoleums showing crypts on each floor.

Detailed description of the invention

A burial complex 10, according to an embodiment of the invention, is shown in Figure 1 . A portion of a further example of a burial complex 10 is shown in Figure 2, according to a further embodiment of the invention. Burial complex 10 may comprise various combinations of building structures 12 on a burial site 14, which has at least one traditional burial section 16 for housing or interning human remains in the ground of the burial site in the form of open-air grave sites 18.

There are preferably a plurality of building structures 12 for housing human remains being locatable on the burial site 14. At least one of these building structures 12 has at least two storeys and is able to house a plurality of mausoleums 20. Each of the mausoleums 20 incudes a series of vaults 22 on each floor 27 of the building structure 12 which houses a plurality of mausoleums. Each vault 22 includes a plurality of cryps 24 for holding at least one burial box, preferably in the form of a coffin 26, as shown in Figures 12 and 13. Further as shown in Figures 12 and 13, the multi storey building structure 12 has three floors, designated as the ground floor 27.1 , the first floor 27.2 and the third floor 27.3. It will also be noted that a burial box that is to be used in a mausolem may also be in the form of a casket, or the like.

Complex 10 further includes at least one of these building structures 12 that has at least two storeys and has a plurality of burial spaces 28 on each floor of the building structure 12. Each of these burial spaces 28 being able to house at least one burial box, preferably in the form of a coffin 26, in soil conditions, as shown in Figure 1 1 . Similarly as noted above, a burial box for use in these burial spaces may also be in the form of a casket, or the like.

As shown in Figure 1 1 , the plurality of burial boxes or coffins 26, are houseable in soil conditions on each floor 27 of a multi storey building structure 12, being ground floor 27.1 , first floor 27.2 and second floor 27.3, in this case. They may be placeable into a burial space 28 which includes a portion of floor space 30 of the building structure, which may be of concrete or a similar floor material, the burial space 28 being surrounded by soil 32 and being able to hold at least one burial box or coffin 26. The burial space 28 may be covered with a further layer of soil 32 once a suitable coffin 26 containing human remains is placed in the burial space. This covering layer of soil 32 is preferably substantially 2m (2 meters) in depth and each burial space 28 is preferably substantially 800mm (800 millimeters) apart from one another across at least one area of the floor space on each floor 27 of the building structure 12.

Additional decomposing bacteria and worms may be added to the soil 32 with which a burial box or coffin 26 may be covered, and in which it may be placed. It will be understood that this additional decomposing bacteria and worms may be used to assist with decomposition of the human remains and any other biological material. The additional decomposing bacteria and worms should in fact speed up the normal rate of decomposition of the human remains and any other biological material.

It will further be understood that each burial box or coffin 26 housed in a burial space 28 in the described soil conditions present in the burial complex 10 of the invention forms a grave site, and as such a suitable tombstone 34 may be placeable over each such grave site if required.

The burial complex 10 further includes at least one building structure 12 in which is housed a venue for holding a religious or memorial ceremony such as, for example, a funeral ceremony and/or a social or catered function. There may preferably be different venues catering for different groups of people such as, for example, people who follow different customs and/or religious practices, so that all of these different groups of people may be catered for according to their specific needs. One such type of venue may be, for example, a chapel. These different venues may be housed in the same or in different building structures 12.

The burial complex 10 may even further include at least one building structure 12 for housing a venue for one or more business associated with the provision of funeral or internment related goods or services. These funeral or internment related goods or services may include the provision of flowers or plants, such as florists, the provision of burial boxes, such as coffins or caskets, catering services, a chapel for providing funeral functions, and the like.

As shown in Figures 8 and 10, the building structres 12 of burial complex 10 may further include a porte cochere 36 or portico-like structure at either a main or secondary entrance to the building structure 12. Such a porte cochere 36 or portico-like structure is a structure through which a vehicle can pass in order for a coffin 26 to be delivered into the building structure 12 under cover and protected from the weather. Burial complex 10 may further include various aesthetically pleasing attributes as well as making use of environmentally friendly attributes such as, for example, the conservation of water by using grey water, the use of solar power for energy conservation, and a greening project where more trees and shrubs are planted in the surrounding area of the burial site 14. The burial or internment facilities of burial complex 10 will preferably be comprised of various grades for use by people or groups of people with differing economic abilities and requirements. The facilities will have a range of options available, extending from the more affordable and simple, to the more expensive and elaborate, depending on the customer's specific requirements. The various options available will also include the lease of certain areas, burial places or burial spaces in burial complex 10 for certain amounts of time, as well as the sale of these areas, burial places or burial spaces in burial complex 10.