This tiny single-storey building houses a surau ("little mosque" in Indonesia) along with toilet facilities, a male/female ablution area and a verandah. It involved the redesign of an old wooden house - the existing proportions of which it retains - to add new walls, a repaired roof and structure, and improved natural ventilation. To minimise costs, local materials and labourers were used as much as possible: brick, timber, cement floor blocks, roof tiles and perforated cement wall blocks were readily available locally, along with self-mix concrete and plaster. Supervision was undertaken weekly, with daily communication via chat apps and phone - and, to the architect’s delight, proceeded smoothly. The building has become a popular religious and social-activity centre - to the extent that locals have named it Surau Al Ma’arij ("The Place to Take Off", in Arabic) - and the landowner, moved by its unexpected success, donated the land to the grateful neighbourhood community group.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
