The Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies [QFIS], located on the Education City Campus, Doha is part of the Hamad-Bin-Khalifa University. The scheme provides world class teaching and faculty space, a research centre and the Education City campus mosque.

QFIS is based on the idea of the Islamic ‘Kulliyya’ or ‘place where all knowledge is sought’ and the scheme provides a progressive learning environment which places the institution at the forefront of progressive Islamic discourse in opposition to conflict that has gripped the Middle East region.

The idea of the Kulliyya suggests that knowledge and faith are interwoven but that all knowledge ultimately comes from faith. This relationship is explored in QFIS through the infinite spiral form of the building plan and the many pathways which bind faculty to mosque.

Classrooms and teaching accommodation are both formal and informal and include ‘learning corridors’ and ‘lounges’, and outdoor learning in the Islamic garden. The informal approach provides areas for inter-faculty encounters with the wider campus. The scheme also acts as community focal point, creating spaces including the prayer area, tea rooms and library where students, non-students and construction labourers are welcomed and can mix with people and use facilities that are normally considered elite and inaccessible.

Key to development of a progressive Islamic identity and uniquely for the Muslim World, QFIS gives male and female students parity by providing co-educational and non-hierarchical space where men and women have equal consideration.

The spiral layout of the scheme places the large volume of the mosque at one end with two 90m high minarets at the other end. The area in between is occupied by the students’ area and library to the west, and the faculty area close to the mosque. The building is located on a corner plot and minarets and mosque staircase beckon visitors from the campus through the four parts Islamic Garden. The fluid landscape merges with indoor space. Outdoor planting includes olive trees as a symbol of peace and healing Qur’anic plants placed in courtyards.

The faculty is separated symbolically from the mosque by a four story ablution cascade. A central two levels courtyard is placed at the heart of the scheme with Qur’anic verse. The mosque itself is elevated and supported by the ‘five pillars of Islam’ and each pillar is inscribed with a verse from the Holy Qur´an.

The scheme recently won the WAF award for the Best Religious building, The MEED Award for the best overall GCC building and Best Social Infrastructure amongst others.

In a troubled world, QFIS is a symbol encapsulating the idea that Islamic architecture can be modern, progressive and inclusive but above all can act as a beacon of hope for positive change.

Sustainability statement

Qatar Foundations core principles are to support economic, social, human and environmental development with education as a centerpiece for sustainable growth.
The Education City Campus thus adheres to stringent sustainability standards which means that all buildings are required to achieve LEED silver or above.
The QFIS scheme however was begun in 2008 before such standards were introduced but nonetheless, our design approach, developed with our partners at Ove Arup was to create an inherently sustainable scheme that turned out by good design to exceed campus wide requirements
Starting with massing, the large volume of the mosque is placed on the southern portion of the site and this helps to create shade over other parts of the building including the main mosque courtyard and student spaces. Prevailing winds from campus Park is scooped up by the building form to provide a cool breeze to upper and lower level entrances.
The ground level student entrance takes the form of a carved out undercroft space which contains the five pillars of Islam supporting the mosque above. The undercroft provides a tempered space away from the heat of the sun and cooled by water under the mosque.
In the Middle East buildings consume large amounts of energy for air conditioning and artificial lighting. At QFIS, the faculty and classroom areas are provided with courtyards of predetermined size to give generous indirect natural light whilst significantly reducing solar heat gain and air conditioning. Courtyards also permit the building to be naturally ventilated for extended periods of the year.
The façade and building envelope were also developed to reduce solar heat whilst permitting natural light particularly in the library area. The West elevation is provided with a two skin modulated façade that subtly changes as it wraps around the buildings to mitigate solar heat gain. High performance composite materials such as the GRC cladding were sourced locally to reduce the carbon footprint.
The landscape is based on the traditional four part Islamic Garden dissected by the four rivers of paradise describe in the holy Qur’an which are the river of wine, milk, honey and water. These provide four themed microclimates around the building and a natural spaces for outdoor learning used comfortably for six months in a year. The specially selected low water landscape is irrigated by grey water from the mosque ablution reducing dependency on desalination.

Building waste is fully recycled at the campus biomass unit. Transport to and from QFIS will be from the campus light rail system connected to the Doha metro and this will mean the EC campus will eventually be part of a14km car exclusion zone.
Social mobility is one of the keys aims of the building. QFIS, uniquely for the Middle East creates a building for Islamic studies that gives male and female students’ parity. The building also appeals to a wide social-economic group from young children attending the mosque with their grandparents to construction workers and Phd students and as such is helping to break down societal traditional barriers.