Don Mills Jamatkhana and Ismaili Community Centre

Award for Unbuilt Work

Architects—Alliance

Toronto, ON, Canada

When complete, the Ismaili Centre and Jamatkhana of Don Mills will celebrate more than 50 years since the first immigration of Ismailis to the Greater Toronto Area, and mark the location of the first Ismaili prayer hall in Ontario. The layout and design apply Modernist idioms to the rich design traditions of Islamic architecture and landscape. The design expresses, formally but humanely, a message of inclusion and pluralism to the diverse neighborhood. Two principal volumes bisected by the main entrance, clad in a double façade of pierced metal and vision glass, cut through the surface noise of the busy suburban site. They reveal and conceal, with a patterned screen inspired by the principles of unity and proportion found in Islamic numerology and geometry.

The massing and orientation draw from the Islamic architectural principal of introversion, whereby a quiet street façade gives way to a vibrant and complex social space within. Viewed in plan, the building is carved into four quadrants that reflect principles of Persian garden design and express the Jamahkhana’s remarkably diverse program, including a prayer hall, gymnasium, library, food drop-off area, administrative offices and multi-purpose teaching spaces. An exquisite roof garden replicates in miniature the four-part massing of the building, providing respite from the city and offering a remarkable view of the Don Valley ravine curving to the south and west. The organization of program and circulation is inspired by the form language of Islamic calligraphy, and its interplay of horizontal and vertical elements.

Jury Comments

This unbuilt work is monumental yet full of light. The geometric patterning throughout the design is in line with the faith tradition’s aversion of graven images. The calligraphy integrated with the architecture is a wonderful inspiration.

Project Team Members

Peter Clewes
Rob Cadeau
Nushin Samavaki
Javier Viteri
Elizabeth George
Andrew Harvey

Project Consultants

MWLA, landscape architects
Mulvey & Banani, International, electrical engineer
The Mitchell Partnership, mechanical engineer
LEA Consulting, civil engineer
WSP, traffic consulting
Urban Forests Associates Inc., arborist