RIBA Stirling Prize NOMINATED 2021

Cambridge Central Mosque, Europe’s first eco-mosque, involved a range of highly intricate construction methods.

It accommodates a congregation of 1000 men and women, becoming both a community and a spiritual centre. Works included a basement car park for 80 cars and Mosque facility above, with café, offices, residential property for the Imam and his family, separate student accommodation and a mortuary.

A central feature of Cambridge Mosque’s prayer hall is its unique freeform glulam timber frame, which comprises 30 interconnecting double curved glulam timber ‘tree’ structures. Each ‘tree’ is formed by 16 interwoven timber members made from 2,746 individual pieces in 175 variants, the geometry of which provides the frame’s strength. It is the first building in the world to be built with this form of timber construction.