Shahporan Islamic Centre
Hackney Road E2
2014

A mosque and community centre was established in the end of terraced house in the 1990s by the local Bangladeshi community. To the rear of the house was a works building which was being used as a the main prayer hall. This project was to redevelop the building to provide a new mosque facility, and refurbish the historic house, which is Grade II listed. C19th advertising lettering is restored on the end wall of the terrace, a memory of when the building was used for manufacturing.

The facade of the new building is derived from a 13th century Anatolian tile pattern which is abstracted to form the full height of the building. Reconstituted stone panels recreate the tile design, and a metal screen is placed across the rest of the facade evoking a traditional mashribiyya lattice. The design is intended to suggest that the building has been carved from a block of stone, to convey a sense of longevity and anchoring.