Architecture Asia Special Issue - ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2020

The communal mosque project, set in a courtyard and community
garden, was initiated to meet the need for a religious
building within the fast-growing housing and commercial development
in Cyberjaya. The mosque was part of the master
plan for an affordable housing scheme accommodating community
needs for living, learning, and healing and for a place
of eternal rest. The mosque’s design incorporates a main
prayer hall with ancillary buildings such as living quarters and
a dialysis center. The project aims to redefine the functions of
a mosque serving a high-density population not only as a spiritual
gathering place but also as a public space where people
from different social and religious backgrounds can gather
together for community activities.
The 5-acre site was relatively flat and barren, with no significant
landscape or landforms. This context afforded opportunities
during the master planning stage to determine the best layout
disposition. The level terrain allowed for optimal accessibility
and user friendliness. Another key sustainable dimension of the
design entailed the construction of the Qibla Wall. This feature
wall, when viewed from the commercial complex on the opposite
side, is a beautiful form that is 6 meters high and 1.5 meters
thick. It is a rammed earth wall, constructed entirely from vivid
orange clay that is abundant at the site. Much of the barren
site was deliberately left untouched but planted with many new
trees, including tropical fruit trees. This valuable garden space
provides a natural extension of the public living space of the surrounding
community.
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