In collaboration with:

Buchhandler-Nelli and Michael Hinich

A shortlisted submission out of 5 from over 200 entrants in an international RIBA open competition.

The brief required to provide a new structure for the growing local muslim community, which will be located just outside Preston's northern bypass. 

Structure: Smith and Wallwork

Services: Skelly & Couch 

Landscape: LDA Design

QS: Henry Riley

Fire Engineering: Harris TPS

The proposal separated the everyday functions from the sacred space, expressed in two masses: 

A tall rectalinear mass over three storeys with prayer halls and learning spaces and a low wing along the boundary which contained the offices, kitchen and storage facilities and separated the paryer hall from the nearby road.

The entrance was positioned between the two parts, allowing visual connection between the arrival courtyard and the garden beyond, marked by the free standing minaret. 

The landscape design was developed as a key principle of the scheme between the carefully planted entrance and the re-wilding of the north garden with its existing mature trees and a rainwater collection pool attached to the building. 

The opening of the garden to the public was a welcoming gesture to the public, connected the complex to the street and provided a quite repose away from the city.