In the west end of Sydney, a new mosque has shouldered its way into the skyline, a structure that includes both Brutalist and religious elements in its design.

Architect Angelo Candalepas was originally commissioned by the Australian Islamic Mission almost a decade ago and was initially unsure of the commission because of his own Greek Orthodox faith. However, he had since received requests for other religious buildings, such as a Protestant church and a synagogue.

"Every one of them has to have space which is spiritual and non fashionable," he told the Sydney Morning Herald, "they aren't interested in shape but in things that should last."

Mosque Design

The mosque is made predominatately of concrete, and is situated at the west end of the complex that will eventually include a primary school at the space's boundary, leaving space for a central courtyard.

A minaret sits at the entrance to the building, and while normally serving as a place of prayer that dominates the skylines of more traditional mosques in the Middle East, Candalepas’s minaret serves to break down the building’s scale. The inclusion of partially open screens also contributes to the creation of a delicate facade.

What makes the dome truly unique, however, is its ceiling: it is studded with 99 dome-shaped relief carvings, each featuring a small opening facing the sky, an homage to the Muslim knowledge of navigational science by mimicking the night sky.

“We’ve placed that idea within the entire building,” Candalepas told Architecture AU. “Very small she-bolts that hold the concrete together are also skylights such that the building can be lit from the outside [like] a series of stars in the concrete.”

An unveiling of the mosque was a focal point of the 11th annual Sydney Architecture Festival, which held a "Meet the Aussie Mosque" tour on Saturday (Sept. 30).

Festival director Tim Horton told The Sydney Morning Herald that the mosque's design represented a new kind of mosque with its own Australian identity.