Candalepas Associates design the new home of the Australian Islamic Mission, a multifunctional complex integrating the Punchbowl Mosque, already completed, and the buildings which will host the community activities, to be realized in the near future.
The layout of the project’s spaces rigorously follows the rituals of the Islamic faith. For instance, starting from the little access court, men and women follow different paths. After crossing through the areas reserved for the respective ablutions, men access the main prayer hall, while women head to the galleries on the first and the second level.
Embracing the client’s request to juxtapose the sacred hall and its annexes, Candalepas Associates also focus on the flexibility required for the most important gathering place of a rapidly growing community. The main courtyard, for instance, is conceived as an enclosed space for praying, but it can easily open up to define an uninterrupted space both with the mosque and the adjacent court.
The mosque’s ceiling is decorated by no less than 102 exposed concrete half-domes, cast in-situ, a clear and convincing reference to the traditional muqarnas of Islamic architecture. Sunlight penetrates each sphere through a minuscule, 30 millimeter diameter round hole, projecting into the ritual space thin, moving rays, accounting for the sun’s daily path.
- Project:
- Punchbowl Mosque
- Program:
- mosque
- Location:
- Sidney, Australia
- Architects:
- Candalepas Associates
- Area:
- 549 sqm
- Completion:
- 2017