American Funeral Director • April 2018

So, when the manager of The WoodMortuary in Greer, South Carolina,decided to redesign his funeral home’spreparation room, he knew what hewanted.“The room has served us well, but

we were finding it harder and harderto keep up with (Occupational Safetyand Health Administration air quality)standards in the room, so we decidedto make changes,” Jones said. “I justfelt we could do better than we weredoing and provide better workingconditions for our employees.”With his extensive experience, Jones

thought he’d be able to design the roomhe wanted. But the more he researchedwhat it would take to improve airquality in the room, the more he cameto believe he was out of his depth.“I realized I needed someone who

specialized in this,” he said.Jones turned to Duncan Stuart Todd

Ltd., an architectural design firm basedin Boulder, Colorado, that specializesin the design of funeral home prepa-ration rooms.The firm redid the room for Jones,

providing a modern, high-capacity airflow system and an ergonomic design

intended to make the 20-foot by 20-foot room a pleasing, safe and efficientplace to work.“My staff loves it,” Jones said.

“They are proud of it, and they neverdreamed we would have such a niceroom to work in.”The Wood Mortuary has been

serving Greer since 1902, when JohnD. Wood established a funeral homeon the second floor of his grocery storein this southern mill town.The funeral home moved into its

present location, which is actually twohouses that were joined together, in1938, Jones said.Wood Mortuary employs 11 funeral

directors and serves about 600 familiesper year at its single location, he said.Nine of the funeral directors areresponsible for embalming, and theyworked at a two-station room locatedbehind the chapel on the funeralhome’s first floor.The room was last renovated about

25 years ago and had a tiled floor,walls and counter space. While airquality still met OSHA standards,performing any renovations on theroom was difficult, since all four walls

were made of brick, Jones said.When planning the project, Jones

worked with Duncan Todd, aprincipal of the design firm, andCunningham-Waters Construction Co.Inc., a local building firm.Cunningham-Waters had worked

with Wood in the past and also doesmedical construction. The companyunderstood what goes into prep roomconstruction, Jones said.The project was slated to start in

November 2016 and, because workwas expected to take several months,the first order of business was buildinga temporary preparation room in thefuneral home’s warehouse beforebeginning demolition of the existingroom.The prep room’s proximity to the

chapel raised the possibility of theproject interfering with the funeralhome’s responsibility to families. Toavoid this, Cunningham-Waters agreedto stop work at least an hour beforeany scheduled services. While thisagreement extended the constructionperiod longer than anticipated, it wasimportant the project not interferewith services, Jones said.

48 This article first appeared in American Funeral Director magazine, April 2018. Used with permisssion

DesignBy Steve Cronin

Modernpproach

Greg Jones has been a funeral professional for more than four decades.

Greg Jones, manager of The Wood Mortuaryin Greer, South Carolina, stands in the funeralhome’s renovated prep room. The prep roomhas two embalming stations that are fittedwith PrepArm localized exhaust systems andthree exhausts at the foot end of the room.The room was designed to provide a betterwork environment than the old prep room,right. (Photos courtesy of Duncan Stuart Todd)

49

Ato an Old Prep Room

equipped with PrepArm localizedexhaust ventilation systems. ThePrepArms, which resemble themovable lights found in dental offices,are fitted with see-through splatterhoods and high-intensity LED lights.Embalmers can move the hood as theywork, further ensuring complete venti-lation while also providing a bright,safe space.The room originally had table drains

enclosed in large, tiled pedestals risingfrom the center of the room. Toddremoved them and relocated the drainsto the counter at the foot-end of theroom, clearing space and improvingwork flow in the area.He removed the tiled countertops

and cabinets and replaced them withnonporous cabinets and countertopsbuilt to withstand repeated washing.Each station has a Dodge embalmingmachine with automatic pressurecontrol. Each also has a 30-foot hosestored in an overhead hanging reel foruse during body washings and forcleaning the room.

“The owners elected to put in extraconveniences to give the staff all thetools they need to do the best job theycan,” Todd said. This includes aMortuary Lift Ultimate 1000 Liftmounted on the ceiling that can bepositioned over either of the stainless-steel preparation tables.Bodies are dressed in the prep room,

so Todd’s design includes three opendecedent lockers for storing the shoes,clothes and jewelry families provide fortheir loved ones.An OSHA-required deluge shower

and emergency eye-wash station werealso installed.The floor has a center drain and is

covered with seamless hospital flooringthat continues up to the foot of theraised cabinets. This creates a bathtubeffect and allows for thorough cleaningand disinfecting of the room, Toddsaid.The walls are painted with

nonporous paint. An exterior windowwas closed up and Todd’s design calledfor installation of a hollow steel door

and airtight frame with keyless entrypad for security. Selection of thematerials was based on OSHA require-ments.“It actually cost a good bit more

than I initially thought it would. Butwhen I had the initial plan in my head,I didn’t realize what products would beneeded in flooring, in countertops,cabinet surfaces – even nonporouspaint,” Jones said. “They send thetotal package, they handle every singleitem and then they work closely withthe contractor on installing it.”Todd said working with

Cunningham-Waters ensured theproject went smoothly.“Dealing with a very old building

posed some unique challenges. Wewere fortunate to have a builder whowas very familiar with the existingconstruction,” Todd said.Jones said he and his staff were

pleased with the finished project. Hethinks a modern, well-equipped prepa-ration room will help retain staff andattract new employees. •

51This article first appeared in American Funeral Director magazine, April 2018. Used with permisssion

The construction crew stripped theroom down to the bare brick walls andthen began following Duncan StuartTodd’s design to reconfigure the space.In addition to designing the

renovation, as part of its PremierSource service, Todd’s company alsoprovided all the equipment andmaterials called for in the renovation. “They plan so well and everything is

so exact that they know, down to thelast quart of paint, exactly what youare going to need,” Jones said.A key part of the renovation was

installation of a new PrepAir G2HVAC system, with three exhausts onthe foot-end wall at each embalmingstation. The system was designed byTodd’s father, J. Stuart Todd, in the1990s, and is the only exhaust systemon the market designed exclusively forprep rooms, according to Todd. Theexhaust system feeds fresh air into theroom from the head-end and ensuresthere is “100 percent fresh air cominginto the room and 100 percent of theair then being evacuated,” Todd said.Each preparation station is also

Left: The renovated prep room includesnew Dodge embalming machines at eachstation and (below) decedent lockers.(Photos courtesy of Duncan Stuart Todd)