The proposal for a new mosque in Cambridge seeks to develop a contemporary language for mosque building in Britain.

Site plan.

The building establishes a careful and modest engagement with its urban context, mediating between the life of the mosque and the street.

The covered street is a primary passage through the building which orchestrates entry to the main prayer hall and provides access to the gardens at the rear of the site. This space is semi-external in quality and is characterised along is length by the interplay of natural light, from a variety of natural sources, across robust material surfaces.

A series of spaces associated exclusively with the mosque are arranged around a group of private gardens at the rear of the site - including a small sunken garden associated with the mortuary.

The forecourt is the mosque’s front door and invitation to the city, gathering worshippers, hosting local events and forming a tranquil garden for local residents.

The main prayer space is capable of accommodating 1000 people. Its vault is lined with textured pre-cast concrete panels, inscribed with an interwoven geometric tracery.

At the springing of the vault, a band of panels, perforated and with rooflights behind, form a horizon of daylight - reflecting a traditional representation of the division between earthly lower storeys and a dematerialised fictive heaven.