Fresh designs for a new mosque have been revealed after architects discovered ‘fundamental issues’ with the original proposals.
Plans to knock down Cheadle Mosque and Community Centre and replace it with a new building ‘with a sense of place and purpose for the community’ were given the green light in 2017.
Manchester-based Four Architects were tasked with delivering the plans by Cheadle Mosque Association – but found problems with the ‘design and function’ of the proposed place of worship.
The firm has now developed a new set of proposals for the site in Wilmslow Road, Heald Green , based upon the ‘design ethos and philosophy that the trust had at the outset’.
A technical review highlighted areas which could be ‘redesigned to enable a better use of space’ while also reducing costs.
These included not having structural columns in the main halls and ensuring access to classrooms was not only via the main prayer hall – described as ‘the most important element’ of the scheme.
In a design and access statement submitted with the application, the company says its guiding principle was to ‘create a space in which the community felt comfortable and inspired’.
This involved creating a ‘hierarchy of spaces’ in which the main prayer hall was the most important element.
The document adds: “Having successfully designed and built a new mosque previously we felt that we would be able to draw on our experience to provide a building that functioned efficiently, provided a cost effective solution but also looked very desirable.”
It continues: “It needed to look first and foremost like a mosque. The design intention was to provide a contemporary form with traditional elements which would fit with the context and locality of the site.”
Among the problems the firm identified in the plans passed in 2017 were that access to classrooms was only via the main prayer hall, both staircases were ‘much too wide’ the curved wall would prove difficult to build.
The latest proposals would see the complex almost double in size from 627 square metres to 1,210, including the loss of the caretaker’s house and modular buildings.
Describing the benefits of the new design the statement concludes: “What we have been able to do in the redesign of the building is produce an extremely efficient layout which has minimised the use of circulation space and dead spaces.
“This has enabled us to give the correct amount of space and proportions to each room in the building while not increasing the footprint or the volume of the building.”
The plans also include 109 parking spaces and 11 cycle spaces.
An earlier plan to redevelop the mosque which would have seen it triple in size were dropped in 2014 following a backlash which generated more than 1,600 objections.
