Madina Mosque, Cathays, Cardiff

Madina Mosque & Community Centre will provide a religious and community hub in the heart of Cathays, Cardiff. The site has been granted a unanimous approval from Cardiff Council and will aim to bring local communities together.

The site will be home to dedicated Islamic prayer areas, along with a café, class & community rooms, a gym, and a rooftop quiet space for the local community to unwind in secluded greenery.

With the mosque being in such proximity to the nearby dwellings, noise from the proposals needed to be considered at an early stage in the concept and design process.

Acoustic Consultants Limited were appointed to undertake a noise impact assessment for the use of the site.

After carrying out a baseline noise survey to determine the existing noise climate at the surrounding dwellings, we were able to thoroughly assess the impact of all the uses proposed at the scheme.

Mosques in the UK do not typically broadcast an amplified call to prayer like you might initially think of. Although this has been a contentious issue in some areas around the country due to the noise from the call, not least in the London Borough of Newham in 2020 where permission was initially granted to do so. Madina Mosque will be no different to the norm in the UK and will not have an amplified call to prayer that could cause disruption and complaints from the local community. Instead, the mosque aims to build community relationships and will only speak the call to prayer internally within the prayer rooms.

The roof top green area is particularly impressive, as it gives locals and the many students in Cathays a chance to relax, study, and chat, in an area sheltered away from road and rail traffic noise. The height, layout and parapet design of the roof will aid in creating a completely different soundscape to the typical one you would expect to find in the area or existing coffee shops.

The heart of Cathays does not have a great range of quiet areas – Roath Park is only a small walk obviously, but Madina Mosque will bring an opportunity right on the local doorsteps.

With the Welsh Government’s introduction of the Noise and Soundscape Plan for Wales, this element of the design comes at the perfect time for Cathays. The plan states:

“A healthy sound environment is more than simply the absence of unwanted sounds…The cities, towns and villages in which people live serve a variety of purposes and should contain a variety of sound environments appropriate to the time and place. There should not be a one-size-fits-all sound environment, which is experienced everywhere, any more than every street and building should look alike.”

The roof top green space at Madina Mosque will tackle this exact aim of the soundscape plan by installing a sound environment that will promote well-being in the local area. The mosque could be an excellent example of how improving soundscapes locally across the country will benefit our health and experience of local communities.

Once the development is completed, Acoustic Consultants Limited are looking forward to returning to see the end results. We’ll also take our sound level meter and report noise level comparisons back from the roof!