With the onset of urban sprawl and a major population boom, Sydney cemeteries are looking at constructing multistorey burial spaces to accommodate the overflow of the deceased.

Executives at Australia’s largest cemetery, Rockwood, have confirmed they are discussing plans to build a five-to-six-storey mausoleum, with its existing facility looking set to reach capacity in 18 months.

“We have 25,000 people dying each year,” says Graham Boyd, Chief Executive of the South Metropolitan Cemetery.

“But that will go up by over 50,000 people per annum by 2051.”

With all current Sydney cemeteries predicted to be full by 2051, cemetery coordinators are looking at alternative ways to store the dead, as the macabre by- product of overpopulation takes effect.

“The city growth is phenomenal. By 2036, you’re looking at 6.4 million people in Sydney alone.”

“Where are they going to go when they die?”

“We have to come up with innovative and new designs,” says Mr Boyd.

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