Photo essay: The understated architecture of the Armed Forces Shohada Mosque

The mosque in Jumierah is a fusion of traditional and contemporary design elements

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  The Armed Forces Shohada Mosque in Dubai. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National

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  Built in 1999, the mosque fuses traditional and contemporary elements

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  The mosque features a fountain surrounded by strategically placed palm trees

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  Perhaps the most striking feature of the mosque is the colonnaded walkway

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  The crescent-shaped colonnade, is wide and not as tall as most traditional colonnades found in the West

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  The lower colonnade creates a more humble and welcoming space

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  The colonnade is made of a perforated material which at night lights up and creates an ethereal atmosphere

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  Worshippers inside the mosque

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  A view of the mosque interior

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  The minaret is a slender, contemporary-looking tower

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  Perforated surfaces help to elevate the building's simple design elements at night

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  The Armed Forces Shohada Mosque at night

A fusion of traditional and contemporary design with ornate and minimalist sensibilities, the Armed Forces Shohada Mosque is an understated and welcoming solace in one of Dubai’s busiest neighbourhoods.

One of the city's most architecturally striking mosques, the building is on Al Bada Street, parallel to Al Wasl Road, behind City Walk and next to the Coca-Cola Arena.

Built in 1999, the mosque welcomes visitors with a tranquil, still fountain surrounded by strategically placed palm trees. One of the most interesting architectural features of the mosque is the colonnaded pathway, a long sequence of columns joined at the top, which encircles most of the area.

Colonnades can either be free standing or part of a larger structure. Often used in classical architecture, colonnades generally feature one of three classical column types – the Doric, Ionic or Corinthian. They are often high and include many decorative details. Even in Islamic architecture, colonnades are high and more ornate.

But here the crescent-shaped colonnade is wide and lower to the ground, creating a more humble, welcoming space and one with a more focused design.

The minaret is a narrow, slender and contemporary tower. Instead of being overly ornamented, the perforated surface helps to elevate its simple design elements at night.

At the end of a wide pathway, within the arched colonnade, is the mosque itself.

There is a small dome at the top but most of the structure is made up of bold, square shapes. Overall, the design is minimalist, bar the parapet cresting ornamentation on the roof’s edge and the pointed arch windows with perforated screens.

The Armed Forces Shohada Mosque fuses traditional architectural features and key stylistic elements from the region, all within a contemporary design.