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Al Salam Mosque: a pale limestone mosque and community centre around an olive-tree courtyard in Dubai

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Al Salam Mosque

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Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Sector
Religious

A mosque and community centre of pale limestone around a shaded courtyard.

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Al Salam Mosque: a pale limestone mosque and community centre around an olive-tree courtyard in Dubai

Use

For daily prayer and community life: a prayer hall, a courtyard for gathering, classrooms, a library and a multipurpose hall for talks and events, with a minaret as a landmark.

How we designed it

A simple pitched stone volume with a skylight, a tall carved bronze screen on the entrance front, and a low cloister of classrooms and halls around a courtyard of olive and date trees. Light falls through the screens in patterns across the prayer hall.

Al Salam Mosque: a pale limestone mosque and community centre around an olive-tree courtyard in Dubai

Thick stone, deep shade and a quiet geometry that suit the climate and should not date.

Why it endures
Al Salam Mosque: a pale limestone mosque and community centre around an olive-tree courtyard in Dubai
Al Salam Mosque: the courtyard at sunset
Al Salam Mosque: the carved screen on the main facade
Al Salam Mosque: the courtyard seating under olive and date trees
Al Salam Mosque: a classroom opening to the courtyard

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