visit cambridge eco mosque

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Cambridge Central Mosque 309-313 Mill Road Cambridge CB1 3DF

HOW TO GET HERE

We are just a 15 minute walk away from Cambridge rail station.

Take the ‘ Citi 2 ’ bus to Romsey Town, Vinery Road which stops right outside our mosque.

Park your car, free, in our underground car park, or at the many parking sites around Cambridge.

Lock your bike adjacent to our Islamic Garden, or in our underground car park.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: PARKING NOTICE FOR TARAWIH PRAYERS ⚠️

Alhamdulillah, we have been granted permission use Sainsbury’s (Brooks Road) Car Park during Tarawih prayers. If our car park is full, please proceed there. Remember, each step towards the mosque is considered a prayer that is rewarded by God Almighty.

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Environmental concerns have been paramount in the design of the new Cambridge Mosque. Muslims feel a strong imperative to protect the environment, as it is a gift from the Divine. Abdal Hakim Murad notes that “Islamic civilization has been based on the rejection of waste as an underestimation of God’s blessing, and so in the construction of the new mosque here in Cambridge, we were very much at the forefront of the local environmental movement”.

The building is naturally lit all year round by large skylights in the roof, supplemented by low energy LED bulbs, while photovoltaic cells on the roof help generate renewable energy from sunlight.

As well as being very well-insulated and naturally ventilated, the mosque is heated and cooled by locally generated energy, by way of highly efficient heat pumps in the basement that produce far more energy than they consume. This type of heat pump extracts energy from the relatively stable temperature of the air or ground water, heating the building as needed and cooling it at times of high occupancy or excess heat gains.

Grey water and rainwater are harvested to flush WCs and irrigate the grounds. The building’s carbon footprint – which is already low – will improve over time as mains electricity from renewable sources becomes more available. Green transport has also been taken into consideration in the design: there is ample space for bikes and it’s easily accessible by pedestrians, while an underground car park frees up space on site for the mosque and gardens.

At three stories high, with a façade that subtly weaves Qur’anic phrases into the Gault brickwork that is traditional in Cambridge, the mosque complements its neighbouring structures on Mill Rd, while the gardens and café make it a welcoming space for all members of the community. Its emphasis on sustainability and high reliance on green energy make this Europe’s first eco-mosque and a true landmark building for the city of Cambridge and its diverse residents.

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We looked around Cambridge's stunning all-inclusive mosque

The new Mill Road mosque is welcome to all - including, thanks to its hyper-modern design, the birds...

• 11:01, 24 JUL 2019
• Updated 10:04, 29 JUL 2019

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It's big, it's stunning and its doors are open - to everyone. Opened in April this year after a decade in development, the Cambridge Central Mosque on Mill Road has a clear mission: "to develop the idea of a British mosque for the 21st century." Anyone from the local area is welcome, including women, who have in some cases been traditionally excluded from the Muslim place of worship.

Eager to find out more, I went on one of the free guided tours the mosque offers on weekends for Cambridgeshire Live  to explore this beautiful new community hub.

Shahida Rahman, one of two female trustees, was our tour guide. She led us in and our necks immediately craned to admire the 30 trees holding up the space. Constructed in Switzerland, they act as pillars with an elegant bare wood design trunking upwards from the ground into branches in the rafters. Light floods the grand room, spilling from skylights in the ceiling.

Designed by David Marks - the architect behind the London Eye and the treetop walkway at Kew Gardens - the project was made possible after in 2009 Marks Barfield Architects won their bid to design the building with their concept of the mosque as "a calm oasis within a grove of trees."

It cost 23 million pounds to build and took 11 years to construct on one of the most diverse streets in Cambridge, to accommodate the city’s growing Muslim population. A multitude of volunteers are needed to maintain the airy space, which also features a fountain and gardens, large glass panels and Cambridge yellow brick. The architect has aimed to build what he termed a "British Mosque", incorporating architecture inspired by Victorian railway stations and trees inspired by the elaborate ceiling of Kings College Chapel. The bricks are arranged elegantly on the walls to spell out Arabic writing.

As the tour continued I walked barefoot on the soft carpet and breathed in gently aromatic air, scented with incense and tree sap.

Shahida explained to the group that the building was constructed to run on as little fuel as possible.

They use solar panels, recycle rainwater for their toilets and have light sensors to maintain the rooms' natural glow.

There are cubbies for shoes and books that line the walls. Shahida told the group that there have been several birds inside the building already with a few settling in the cubbies as though it were a real forest. Outside, a swift's nest sits in one of the rafters above the garden. They are actively welcomed by the community: there are 9 purpose build swift nests on the roof to help with the decline in the swift population.

So what makes this mosque so inclusive?

As the group, consisted of my girlfriend and I, my queer housemate and members of the LGBTQ+ group QTI Coalition of Colour, guided by this Muslim woman, she explained that the mosque was also open to all sects of Islam.

She gestured toward an array of variously sized modesty blinds for the women's section - some women like to be completely concealed while praying while others do not - along with chairs for the less able. It is traditional in the Muslim faith for men and women to worship separately, however Shahida emphasised the co-run nature of the mosque, which purposefully has women as well as men at the helm running it day to day. 

Above the soundproof room built for families to bring their small children sits the Baraka Khan room. A student at the University of Cambridge, Baraka Khan raised half a million pounds before she died of cancer in order to have this separate private space built for women: a balcony above the main mosque.

There are baby changing facilities in the male and female ablutions area- a feature our male photographer couldn’t help but appreciate - and to encourage an eco-friendly visit there are bike racks and a bus stop right outside “so there’s no excuse”, Shahida laughed.

The decision was also taken early on not to have a call to prayer, in respect of the neighbours. The building is completely soundproof, and the Imam who lives on-site controls the volume of the internal call and songs.

The mosque was also built with the first facilities in Cambridge for Islamic burial, where the body can be washed, shrouded and taken into the mosque for prayer.

As well as locals, a Jewish delegation and a Hindu group have visited the mosque since its opening, with a view to breaking down barriers and developing connections.

The day the first prayers were held in the mosque in March coincided with the Christchurch attacks to two mosques in New Zealand. There were talks of cancelling the prayers, but they went ahead despite the community's fears.

People including New Zealanders visited the mosque with letters and cards. A man came in with a bunch of flowers. Shahida said he almost broke down in tears. “They were messages of peace.”

Making history

Shahida is the second generation in her family here in Cambridge and was born nearby in the old Mill Road Maternity Hospital.

“I feel very proud to be from here," she told me.

She is the author of the novel Lascar, in the process of writing a second, has written multiple children's books about a Muslim girl called Rani and has stood for council three times locally.

“Me being involved will hopefully encourage other women to come forward. It's not just a mosque for men. It's about having the confidence to do that. It's not easy” explains Shahida.

"There are misconceptions with the media giving a negative view. I will give the message out that women are active within the Muslim community.”

“A woman attended one of the tours a month ago [and] had misconceptions about Islam," Shahida told us. "This is why she came to do the tour.

"She said visiting the mosque and meeting me made a huge difference and broke down those barriers. That was really impactful for her to say. She will go back and tell other people.

“I feel sometimes you're having to justify yourself. Take me as I am. I always invite those who may have prejudiced views to come and talk to me. Through dialogue, you can achieve more.”

She pointed out that despite popular belief, “We’ve had Muslims in Cambridge for over 100 years.”

The building like the community is now part of Cambridge's history.

Shahida’s father arrived in Cambridge in the 50’s from what was then Pakistan.

He was one of the first to set up a Bengali restaurant on 43 Regent Street called the New Bengal Restaurant.

Arriving in his early 20’s he started in a bedsit, but went on to buy a house and started multiple restaurants in his lifetime.

She told me: “There are a lot of third-generation children here now. It's important not to forget our heritage. He was a very hardworking man. We have our parents to thank for who we are today.”

She lost her father when she was very young, however: “I was only 13 when my dad passed away. That's one of the hardest things we ever had to deal with.”

She now has children of her own, who are part of the familiy's 60-year history in the city. “We've watched the community grow”.

Despite running into clashing opinions in her local council elections, she also got to meet people who had dined in her father's restaurant too.

As the tour drew to a close, Shahida hugged us goodbye and told us to come back when the mosque’s cafe opens in September. She laughed when she told us there had already been complaints that the mosque smells of cooking, despite the kitchen not yet being finished.

The cafe will be there for the whole community to use along with their meeting rooms and study spaces where students already gather.

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Cambridge Central Mosque

The Cambridge Central Mosque, also known as Masjid AlTawheed, is Europe's first eco-friendly mosque and the first purpose-built mosque within the city of Cambridge, England. Its mandate is to meet the needs of the Muslim community in the UK and beyond by facilitating good practice in faith, community development, social cohesion & interfaith dialogue. The Cambridge Central Mosque was opened to the public on 24th April 2019, and in addition to the mosque's dedicated areas (ablution, teaching, children's area, morgue) there will be a café, teaching area and meeting rooms for use by the local Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

The Muslim Academic Trust (MAT) proposed the site location to be situated in the Romsey area of Mill Road in Cambridge. Thereafter, the Cambridge Mosque Project was established in 2008 by Dr Timothy Winter, who converted to Islam over 40 years ago and took the name Abdal Hakim Murad and is a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Cambridge, to raise funds for the project. In 2009, Marks Barfield Architects won the competition to design the building with their concept of the mosque as a calm oasis within a grove of trees. With the collaboration of UK-based specialists such as the world leading expert in sacred architecture and Islamic geometry Professor Keith Critchlow, UK’s leading Islamic garden designer Emma Clark, and artists Amber Khokhar and Ayesha Gamiet, among others, the final design marries traditional Islamic architecture, geometry and horticulture with indigenous English materials, plants and craftsmanship to create a unique synthesis.

At three stories high, with a façade that subtly weaves Qur’anic phrases into the Gault brickwork that is traditional in Cambridge, the mosque complements its neighboring structures on Mill Rd, while the gardens and café make it a welcoming space for all members of the community. Its emphasis on sustainability and high reliance on green energy not only makes this Europe’s first eco-mosque, it has also become a true landmark building for the city of Cambridge and its diverse residents.

Worshipers and visitors enter via an Islamic garden before passing through a covered portico and then an atrium, preparing them gradually for the contemplation of the prayer hall, facing Mecca. This combination of gardens with whispering fountains and vaulted prayer spaces has been used to great effect throughout Islamic history – for instance, at the Alhambra – and it reminds us of the interconnection of humans and the natural world. The gardens enhance the feeling of an ‘oasis’ that the building embodies. 

Description

Sustainable design the defining feature of cambridge mosque is its timber structure. the columns, or ‘trees’, reach up to support the roof in an interlaced octagonal lattice vault structure evocative of english gothic fan vaulting, famously used at the nearby king’s college chapel. the timber is sustainably sourced spruce which has been curved and laminated. roof lights are located above the ‘trees’, bathing the prayer hall in light. the octagonal geometry has strong symbolism in islamic art, suggesting the cycle of inhalation and exhalation – the ‘breath of the divine’. “the mosque is committed to sustainability: its advanced eco-design gives it a near-zero carbon footprint, honours natural forms with sustainable timber vaulting, and reminds the visitor of our connection to nature.”   first eco-mosque environmental concerns have been paramount in the design of the new cambridge mosque. muslims feel a strong imperative to protect the environment, as it is a gift from the divine. abdal hakim murad notes that “islamic civilization has been based on the rejection of waste as an underestimation of god’s blessing, and so in the construction of the new mosque here in cambridge, we were very much at the forefront of the local environmental movement”. the building is naturally lit all year round by large skylights in the roof, supplemented by low energy led bulbs, while photovoltaic cells on the roof help generate renewable energy from sunlight. as well as being very well-insulated and naturally ventilated, the mosque is heated and cooled by locally generated energy, by way of highly efficient heat pumps in the basement that produce far more energy than they consume. this type of heat pump extracts energy from the relatively stable temperature of the air or ground water, heating the building as needed and cooling it at times of high occupancy or excess heat gains. grey water and rainwater are harvested to flush wcs and irrigate the grounds. the building’s carbon footprint – which is already low – will improve over time as mains electricity from renewable sources becomes more available. green transport has also been taken into consideration in the design: there is ample space for bikes and it’s easily accessible by pedestrians, while an underground car park frees up space on site for the mosque and gardens..

https://www.middleeastarchitect.com/42044-cambridge-reveals-europes-first-eco-mosque

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/17/cambridge-new-mosque-marks-barfield

https://cambridgecentralmosque.org/the-mosque/

http://www.marksbarfield.com/projects/cambridge-mosque/

https://www.brick.org.uk/bulletin/cambridge-mosque

Vinery Rd, Cambridge, UK

Worshippers

Muslim Academic Trust

Architect Name

Marks Barfield Architects Keith Critchlow

Year of Build

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Home   News   Article

Guests at official opening of Cambridge Central Mosque admire its stunning architecture and eco-friendly design

Cambridge Central Mosque was officially opened today (December 5), with hundreds of guests admiring its stunning architecture and environmental measures.

Europe’s first eco-friendly mosque caters for Cambridge’s 6,000-strong Muslim community and was paid for entirely by donations.

Aiming for a zero-carbon footprint, the mosque in Mill Road features air source heat pumps and airtight insulation, solar panels, water-saving measures and sustainably sourced wood.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was present for the opening ceremony after an invitation from founding patron Yusuf Islam, also known as Cat Stevens, the singer-songwriter behind songs like Where Do The Children Play?, Wild World and Peace Train.

The trustees of the Cambridge Mosque Trust, the registered charity that looks after the mosque, said: “The Cambridge Muslim community, which brings together local people from over 70 different ethnic groups, is delighted that its long-standing dream to create an ecologically-responsible mosque has today become a reality.

“We are grateful to all our sponsors, to local residents, and to all who have shown such patience over the last 10 years while we planned and built this ambitious addition to the Cambridge skyline.

“We are sure that its symbolism of harmony between East and West will preside over a hub for peace, prayer, and mutual understanding.”

The Cambridge Mosque Trust, founded to manage the inception, design and build of the new mosque, was established in 2008 by Cambridge academic Dr Tim Winter and Yusuf Islam because it had become clear that the Abu Bakr Mosque on Mawson Road in Petersfield, Cambridge, was far too small for the growing Muslim population in the city.

The trust is a registered charity and a joint venture of the Muslim Academic Trust (MAT), the Diyanet Foundation of the UK and the Cambridge Muslim Welfare Society (CMWS).

Green features

The environmental credentials of the mosque are evident throughout.

The ventilation is supplied via roof lights and grilles, combined with air source heat pumps and airtight insulation, which naturally regulates the air quality.

Twenty per cent of the building’s energy use are supplied by solar panels on the roof, and rainwater is harvested and repurposed for flushing toilets and watering the garden.

In the atrium and main prayer hall are tree-like columns with timber branches that support the roof. This means it does not require additional support from unsustainable materials.

The trees themselves are made from cross-laminated spruce, which were sourced in sustainably-managed forests in Central Europe, milled in Switzerland and assembled on site in Cambridge.

Sensors detect differences in light intensity and are able to dim the energy-efficient lights. Careful use of glass helps to preserve heat.

Swift boxes are placed on the exterior walls to help the bird population.

Water-saving features accessed via sensor controls are incorporated into the ablution areas, where worshippers wash their face, arms and feet before prayer.

Design and architecture

The aim was for a deliberately British structure that would cater for diverse group of worshippers from all over the world while reflecting the local culture.

An international competition was held calling for inventive and innovative ideas .

“Our intention was to develop a strongly contemporary design, of its place and time yet reflecting both the Islamic and British sacred traditions,” said the trust.

Marks Barfield Architects, designers of the London Eye, were selected by a representatives from CMT, CMWS, the University of Cambridge Department of Architecture and the East Mill Road Action Group. The mosque was built by Gilbert-Ash.

The architects’ design is intended to take visitors “on a journey from the busy street through a progression of spaces, encouraging them to experience a gradual transition from the day-to-day, mundane world to a reflective, more spiritual one”.

Visitors first pass through a community garden, then a beautiful Islamic garden with a water fountain.

The garden was designed by Islamic garden designer Emma Clark, professor of design at the Prince of Wales Institute for Traditional Arts, working with landscape architects Urquhart and Hunt.

Many of the plants were chosen because they are found in Turkey, the Mediterranean and further East, but many also grow in the UK.

In the community garden at the front, for example, the columnar form of the birch offers a strong vertical accent familiar to Islamic gardens while reflecting the birch trees in the area.

From the gardens, visitors progress through to a portico. Brickwork cladding here is a nod to Romsey’s Victorian architecture.

Through here, visitors are taken into the atrium, where they can visit the café or the teaching and exhibition spaces, or move through to the ablution areas and into the main prayer hall.

The ablution areas feature turquoise Turkish tiles, while the prayer hall has custom made calligraphy, a mihrab (prayer niche) and minbar (pulpit) by Turkish artist Hüseyin Kutlu.

Geometric patterns symbolise the unison of English Gothic design and Islamic architecture. These were hand designed by Professor Keith Critchlow, an expert in sacred architecture and Islamic geometry. He uses tessellating geometric patterns “to symbolise the infinite and mathematical perfection”.

The natural world was chosen by the trust as the “proposed point of connection between Islamic and British cultural history.”.

Timber was therefore chosen as the main building material, since it is one of the most sustainable building materials, and timber construction company Blumer-Lehmann worked with the architects.

The design incorporates 16 wooden columns in the inner sanctuary, which open up to support the roof. These ‘trees’ in the prayer hall symbolise the four imams of Sunni Islam and the 12 imams of Shia Islam.

Architect David Marks said: “We didn’t want to create a replica or pastiche of something that existed elsewhere. The opportunity to do something English, British, excited us. Now that there is a significant Muslim community in the UK it’s time to work out what it means to have an English mosque.”

The mosque also includes two staff residences, an underground car park, cycle parking and a mortuary.

International collaboration

The building is seen as a triumph of international co-operation.

Envisioned by the Muslims of Cambridge, designed by British architects and financed by Turkish stakeholders, it was constructed by Irish contractors using Swiss-made timber components and Spanish marble. Cambridge property consultants Bidwells helped to manage the process.

It has won a host of awards already. The mosque was named Culture and Leisure Project of the Year at the British Construction Industry Awards, earned a regional award from the Royal Town Planning Institute, won the Education and Public Sector category prize at the Wood Award and was judged as the Best Community and Faith Project at the AJ Architecture Awards.

A consortium of government agencies in Turkey were the main donors for the mosque, along with a Turkish private company and the Qatar National Fund. THe Turkiye Diyanet Foundation, a civil trust, joined forces with the MAT and CMWS to help bring the project to completion.

An inclusive place

While primarily a place of Muslim worship, the Cambridge Central Mosque is non-denominational and welcoming to the whole community.

It is also intended to be “one of the UK’s leading women-friendly mosques”, with features such as a soundproof mother and child section, mobile stands to accommodate for the change in numbers of women present in the mosque, spaces for female worshippers both on the main floor and the mezzanine and a complementary therapy room.

The building is fully wheelchair accessible and fitted with hearing loops.

In pictures: President Erdoğan of Turkey speaks at official opening of Cambridge Central Mosque in Mill Road

Stunning views of Cambridge’s £23m mosque

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Cambridge Central Mosque: The first Eco Mosque in Europe

Back In January, I didn’t go abroad anywhere as work was really busy and I’d just had time off for Christmas so I couldn’t take any more days. Instead I made the choice to take advantage of a few free tours I’d been offered locally and do a little bit of doorstep exploring. The first of these was at the absolutely wonderful Cambridge Central Mosque .

The History of Cambridge Eco Mosque

The Mosque here is new, having opened in 2019. It’s on a site about a 40 minute walk from the centre of Cambridge along Mill Road. Previously the site was home to everything from a bowling alley, to a petrol station, to a John Lewis warehouse. At the same time, the local Muslim population was growing, and existing Mosques couldn’t house worshippers – to the point they were having to pray on the street during busy prayer times.

So once the John Lewis warehouse stopped being operational, The Muslim Academic Trust decided to buy the site in 2009, and raise the £23m needed to fund the building of a brand new Mosque here. It really struck me that I manage projects at work for more than that that deliver not nearly as much as this has – to me it was £23m well spent for the local community and city I call home.

The Cambridge Eco Mosque Building

The building is amazing. It has been built so considerately, with a lot of thoughtful touches – I’ll do my best to remember some of them!

Firstly, there’s parking underground. This was because often city mosques can lead to lots of illegal on-road parking, which local residents were really worried about. This makes it super easy and convenient to visit and means your car isn’t blocking anyone’s drive or pavements.

Approaching the Mosque, the first thing you see is the garden. I’d noticed at other Mosques I’ve visited around the world, they don’t have a front garden – it’s normally a courtyard in the middle. My tour guide explained that this is in homage to the fact the Mosque is in England – we love our front gardens here, and the Mosque wanted to stay in keeping with that. Other interesting points about the garden were that it had a yew tree hedging in the same way many Christian churches do, again to symbolise understanding of other religions important to the community.

In the centre of the garden is a beautiful octagonal fountain, with 4 entry points representing the 4 seas of Islam (water, honey, milk and wine). The octagon is then reflected as you walk in to the entrance hall of the Mosque which is full of Octagonal patterns on the floor and ceiling. Geometry is important in Islamic design and the symmetry was so beautiful to look at. The roof also has areas that encourage swifts to nest in it, to help the endangered bird find safe homes.

Inside you also start to appreciate the ‘trees’ everywhere. These were perhaps my favourite design element, being multi purpose. Of course, one is that they are eco and made of wood (only 2 companies in the world can bend the wood in the way required), meaning the building is made only of natural materials. They also keep the front of the building shaded so that it doesn’t get too hot in the summer, and warm in the winter so it doesn’t lose too much heat. The trees are also a nod to a local neighbour – King’s College Chapel, the most famous Christian structure in Cambridge. I loved this link, it’s just so harmonious to reflect the Mosques entire community.

The brick work on the walls of the entrance is also symbolic, with the raised red bricks spelling Arabic words – the photo below shows the word Allah, or God, written 4 times in a quadrant.

Moving through to the Prayer Hall was really special. Having this huge space to myself was quite awe inspiring and incredibly peaceful. All religions are allowed in the Prayer Hall, and there are some thoughtful touches – for example, there is a woman and baby area which is sound proof so even parents dealing with screaming babies can join in the prayer and not worry about the noise!

The Prayer Hall continues with its thoughtful symbolism. It has stained glass windows – another nod to the Christian church, but in Arabic shapes to merge the two religions. It also has links to the three holiest Islamic sites – Mecca, Jerusalem and Medina. There is a piece of cloth from Mecca, tiles from Jerusalem and design elements from Medina.

Cambridge Eco Mosque: Beyond the Building

Beyond the Building, the Mosque also acts as a community space. There is a conference room area, which houses a few interesting exhibits on the Islamic world’s contribution to science, maths and medicine. There is also a little Cafe, and some amazing bathrooms which feel more like a spa than a toilet.

I really did feel like the Mosque has been so considerate of where it is. It is a Muslim building, of course, and when I enter we respect those religious traditions and beliefs – but I also feel a connection to the non-Muslim Cambridge community. It brings the two together. It’s a Mosque, but it’s a very definite English Mosque and actually a very definitely Cambridge Mosque. I love that, and it reflects the diversity of our city and the links between our religious groups.

I’m so pleased I visited, and really do encourage anyone who visits Cambridge to do the same. You don’t need to be a Muslim, just interested in learning about other cultures. And in today’s society, isn’t that more important than ever to do.

Thanks so much for reading. I hope you found it interesting to learn about the Eco Mosque here in Cambridge. And if you’re interested in other things to do in Cambridge, please have a look at:

• Cambridge 48 hour itinerary
• Cambridge things to do
• Cambridge walking tour (post coming soon)

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39 responses to “cambridge central mosque: the first eco mosque in europe”.

What a beautiful mosque Hannah. I’ve visited quite a number overseas but don’t recall visiting any in England. Its wonderful how it harmonises with the local community too.

Like Liked by 1 person

Thanks Marion, it was a really beautiful place to visit 🙂

I love the attention to detail and symbolic touches; it’s a stunningly beautiful structure. Thanks for sharing!

It’s so unique isn’t it, a really special place 🙂

Incredible symmetry on, out, and in the mosque! Even more impressive is its eco-friendly message it aims to spread…looks like a welcoming center not just for Muslims, but also for people of any faith!

Totally agree, it’s such a lovely place to have as part of the community 🙂

Wow!!! What a beautiful elegant mosque and even more important, an Eco mosque! That’s the first I’ve heard of it which is an amazing Islamic concept of conserving whatever you can. I am in awe of the structure and I love how all spaces are bathed in natural light. It definitely represents a new landmark standard for spiritual centres across the world. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

Thanks Aiva, it was really nice to explore it and learn more about it. I love how integrated it is as part of the local community here 🙂 x

What a beautiful place to worship! You can tell how much thought went into the design and construction.

Totally, it’s really well thought through and the perfect choice for a Mosque here in Cambridge 🙂

Wow, it’s beautiful! I would definitely do this tour if I was visiting Cambridge.

It was so interesting, and barely anyone seems to even know it’s there!

An interesting building (with beautiful detail) … somehow, not what I would expect from a traditional mosque. But then, as you said, it is an eco-mosque and there are many connections with other religions.

I agree totally, and I think it’s a modern take on traditional, which I really liked 🙂

A lovely mosque and quite unique in design I believe. Surely the world’s only mosque with a John Lewis history.

HA, that made me laugh! You have to be right there!!

wow, what a beautiful building! I love the mix of light and wood. Such a wonderful addition to the city 🙂

I totally agree, I was really taken back by it and learned loads visiting. A lovely addition to the community that’s for sure 🙂

This is amazing! It really shows the efforts they have made not only to include anyone and everyone, but also to integrate the building in the country, region and area. It is truly admirable, and every little detail seems really well thought out!

I totally agree, I think they’ve put so much thought in to it and it really is beautiful. Thanks for reading Juliette, hope you had a nice weekend.

Wonderful architectural structures and geometric patterns ~ thank you for sharing, Hannah 🙂

Thanks Phil, it really is a beautiful and interesting place to visit 🙂

It’s always nice to explore in your own backyard sometimes. What a beautiful mosque. I love the use of geometric patterns on the floor and ceiling and how the pillars resemble trees.

I totally agree, and it was so nice to learn so much as well. I really enjoyed my visit 🙂

I have a hard time with the treatment of women in some interpretations of Islam, but I really admire the ways this mosque has made itself cross-cultural and cross-religious (for lack of a better term), as well as its respect of the environment.

I totally agree, and I think it’s a lovely addition to the community 🙂

Lovely architecture 😍.

I’ve never been inside a mosque, Hannah, but this would be one I’d love to visit. The fact that they’ve kept it organic as well as true to the community is amazing. Thank you for sharing a bit of your home with us!

Oh thank you Kellye, it really was a lovely and peaceful place and well worth a visit 🙂

What a beautiful building. I love all the thoughtful design elements and the symmetry.

Me too, I thought it was so beautiful. Thanks so much for reading 🙂

Hard to believe this was once a bowling alley… What a beautiful use of the space. I love the “tree” columns and the fact that it was designed to also serve as a community center, unusual for a religious building.

I know, I’m not sure many mosques across the world can say that that’s in their history!! It’s such a lovely place, I’m really glad I visited.

I loved that, Han. Not only beautiful, but full of symbolism and nods to the local community. Well, more than ‘nods’, really! Beautifully photographed and narrated, as always (we expect no less!).

Thank you so much Mike, I really appreciate you taking the time to read and comment – the Mosque really is beautifully done and a great part of the community here.

[…] second local tour I did back in January (after the Eco Mosque) was with the wonderful Cambridge and Oxford Alumni Tours. I was invited to join them and to create […]

[…] Visit another of the area’s incredible museums – why not try the Polar Museum, or Duxford Imperial War Museum. You could even tour the country’s first eco-mosque. […]

[…] was spent at home and quiet, doing some local day trips such as exploring Cambridge Central Mosque and Cambridge University. The weather was cold and the days short so my free time was largely spent […]

[…] Cambridge Eco Mosque […]

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Hi! My name is Hannah, I’m a travel blogger from the UK who fits travel around a full time (and full on) job. In this blog I share my adventures around the world and hopefully help you to find some inspiration for destinations, things to do or places to stay. Thanks for stopping by – stay safe and happy travelling.

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South Asian Heritage Month: Cambridge's eco mosque is a jewel in the city's crown

• South Asian Heritage
• Monday 26 July 2021 at 5:19pm

Watch a report by ITV's Graham Stothard

To celebrate South Asian Heritage Month, ITV News Anglia has visited Europe's first eco mosque in Cambridge to celebrate the community and the vital contribution it makes in the region.

Like all places of worship, Cambridge's new eco mosque was closed during the lockdowns with only limited opportunity for prayers.

Now, this amazing building on the city's Mill Road is open again for tours.

Kal Karim is one of the tour guides who explained that while the building that features Islamic principles and features in its design it also shows off the community's Britishness as well.

"We also wanted to be responsible environmentally as well, so have Europe's first eco-friendly mosque. So there's lots of technology that reduces our carbon footprint, as well as having aesthetics and the beauty from the traditional design," he said.

The building features many different highlights including a tile from Jerusalem, black cloth from Mecca and ancient Arabic script patterned into the wall.

Cambridge Mosque Trustee, Shahida Rahman, is Kal Karim's sister. They were both born in the UK but their father moved here in 1957 from what was East Pakistan, and is now Bangladesh.

She remembered being quizzed by locals who understood very little about her culture.

"I think when we were younger and we were growing up and Cambridge there was a lot of curious questions about our background and where we came from," she said,

"There weren't very many Muslims in the schools that we attended so I think people just generally wanted to know about us," Shahida Rahman added.

South Asian Heritage Month is about having that open dialogue and furthering understanding so people can better understand diversity in Britain. The inaugural South Asian Heritage Month took place last year.

Co-founder of the celebration, Jasvir Singh said that religion plays an important part in South Asian identity but that the month is more about the multi-layered identities that exist.

"If you have a look at our calendar of events we have events looking at sports, at arts, at culture, at history, at LGBTQ+ issues, and will cover a broad range of subjects and topics because that's what it means to be South Asian today," Jasvir Singh said.

• International edition
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Inside Cambridge’s new £23m mosque: a forest runs through it

The architects who designed the London Eye have now created a beautiful, approachable and eco-friendly new place of worship in Cambridge

A mosque, points out the architect Julia Barfield, has no fixed appearance. It varies with location: in Egypt, in Andalucía, in Turkey, in Indonesia, on the Arabian peninsular, wherever Muslims need a place to pray, the building takes on the characteristics of the local style. In China it might be a series of pavilions with pagoda-like roofs; in sub-Saharan Africa it might be built of mud bricks or rammed earth. It might be covered by a single dome, or many, or by a flat roof supported on multiple columns. It might be made of stone, or timber, or concrete.

In Britain, mosques go back to the late 19th century, when one was hollowed out of an existing terrace in Liverpool and another was purpose-built in the Surrey town of Woking. Yet it is still not entirely clear what the typical style of a British mosque might be: the most common approach, often driven by the demand to serve as many people as possible within limited budgets, is to build a plain box that is then decorated with motifs referring to the main country of origin of the congregations – Ottoman for Turks and Cypriots, Moghul for people from the subcontinent – or from which the bulk of the funding came.

The new £23m mosque in Mill Road, Cambridge , which will open in the next few weeks, is the most determined attempt yet to build in a way that is of its own place and time. It’s the brainchild of Timothy Winter, also known as Abdal Hakim Murad, a convert to Islam who teaches at the University of Cambridge and is dean of the Cambridge Muslim College. The building, which has room for 1,000 worshippers, will serve the city’s Muslim population in general, as well as Winter’s students. It has been funded, he says, by more than 10,000 donations “large and small”, from private individuals to governments such as Qatar. Two thirds of the total has come from “a raft of Turkish donors, both business and government”. Winter says that these gifts have come with no strings attached, in terms of the selection of imams or the spiritual direction of the mosque.

Winter is noted for his opposition to extremist interpretations of Islam and for his wish to create a better understanding between those inside and outside the faith. He is also the son of John Winter, a sensitive and skilful modernist architect in one of whose creations, a steel-and-glass cuboid on the edge of Highgate cemetery in London, he grew up. It’s not surprising, given his background, that he aimed to achieve “social integration” with the wider local community and that he wanted to commission a notable work of contemporary architecture.

The architects, chosen in a competition in 2009 (it has taken a while to raise the funding), are those who designed the London Eye – the practice of Barfield and her late husband, David Marks, proteges of the hi-tech architectural offices of Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. And, if it’s surprising to see them make the transition to a place of worship from an internationally recognised tourist attraction, you can see in both projects an ambition to make a building’s visible structure impart symbols and meaning.

With the Eye, it was all about refining the detail of the wheel so as to turn it from a fairground ride into an urban icon. With the mosque, the design effort has been concentrated on tree-like columns whose highly engineered timber branches, spreading out and intertwining, hold up the roof. Light filters through from circular openings above. A grove of 16 such columns is created in the prayer hall that is the main space of the mosque, anticipated by others in the building’s entrance atrium and portico.

If there’s a touch of the Foster-designed Stansted airport in the repeating structure, the curves and the materials tell you that something else is intended here. Spiritual rather than physical transport, you might say. Barfield explains the design as a reference to the Qur’anic idea of paradise as a quadripartite garden. It owes something to the gothic vaults, this being an exalted form of British religious architecture that possibly has an Arab influence, and it owes something else to the internal stone forest of the great mosque of Córdoba. The overall effect is an abstract Arabesque, a way of building inspired by the spirit rather than the literal details of traditional Islamic architecture.

Other parts of the project strive to interpret traditional themes in their own way. Keith Critchlow, a specialist in Islamic geometry, has advised on the patterns underlying Marks Barfield’s roof structure and has contributed decorative elements of a more obviously traditional design. Brick patterns in the atrium walls inscribe the name of Allah. Emma Clark, a garden designer and an expert on Islamic ones, is also drawing on Qur’anic descriptions of paradise to create a hopefully contemplative haven at the front of the building, in what is one of the less scenic parts of the famous university city – small brick houses, a busy road and industrial premises are among the neighbours.

At the same time, Winter’s desire for integration and openness are pursued. If the prayer hall has a certain confidence and quiet grandeur, the building steps down towards the front to fit in with the scale of its surroundings. Clark’s garden is open to anyone, believers or not, and there is a cafe next to the atrium to draw visitors in. The design, as Winter wished, aims for exemplary levels of sustainability and energy efficiency.

It doesn’t entirely hang together. There’s an unevenness of tone between the different contributions, which take different positions on the path from literal to abstracted interpretations of traditional Islamic design. The installation, currently under way, of some Turkish-looking features from the Turkish donors will be something else again. One is reminded of Stansted in a different way, where the elegant structure has been embarrassed by the rampage of retail at its base.

The dissonant elements, it should be said, are much less drastic in the mosque than in the airport, and in the end the sinuous arboreal construction carries the day. It is beautifully built, and bravely and intelligently conceived. It works best in the atrium, where it layers the process of entry from street to prayer hall, and where columns and vault cohere best with the patterns of floor and walls. You could say that its very virtuosity contributes to the lack of connection with other parts of the project – it’s a common feature of hi-tech architecture that an impressive structural performance has this effect – but mostly you should just stand back and appreciate it.

The simple fact of making the introductory garden open and accessible, of presenting this fragile element to a harsher world outside, is also a strong one. Neither it nor the tree-columns entirely answer the question of what a British mosque might be – and it would be absurd to expect one building do this – but they give it an exceptionally good go.

• Architecture
• The Observer

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The UK’s first eco-mosque has opened up in Cambridge

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The UK’s first green mosque has been opened in Cambridge, after almost a decade of planning. With a zero carbon on-site emission, rainwater harvesting, and air source heat pumps, the Cambridge Central Mosque has a capacity for 1,000 worshipers as well as extra space for the mosque’s Sheikh and his family or guests.

The Cambridge Mosque Trust, who were behind the development of this eco-mosque, stated:

It seems obvious that our spiritual traditions should be defending the natural world against human materialism and greed. We wanted the mosque to incarnate the usefulness of faith in the modern context.”

The design of the mosque was created to represent an “oasis”, which helps bring out feelings of peace and calm. The community garden will be home to 20 new cypress trees, to create a vibrant green area for all to enjoy and respect. The mosque also uses large skylights, making it possible to stay naturally lit throughout the year.

This mosque is groundbreaking not only in the fact that it is eco-friendly and green, but because it connects those of faith and those who identify as environmentalists. The Cambridge Central Mosque is showing that one can be a Muslim and an environmentalist, that someone can be a person of faith and a person who cares for the earth we live on.

Julia Barfield, the principal architect of the project, stated:

This is a truly British mosque in the 21st century. This mosque can be a cultural bridge, and it takes the environmental message to one of the biggest faith communities in the world.”

In today’s political climate of global warming deniers and high-profile politicians ignoring the science behind how to better preserve our earth, it becomes even more important for people like those behind this eco-mosque to step up and set an example for the world to see.

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