Building the world’s largest religious structure

Chris started his creative journey as a potter – the 3D element is the link to how he became involved in architecture. Chris worked to international acclaim as one of the top practitioners in his field.

In the late 70s Chris arrived in a small Welsh town called Llanidloes as a jobbing builder. He happened to live close by to David Wade – a sculptor, artist and author – who liked to work out the maths involved in geometric patterns of Islamic art.

David was working on a job to make 1500 picture frames for the Quatar Sheraton Hotel. Chris looked at the methods David was using and suggested using moulds he could make. Moulds became Chris’ forte.

From the workshop in Wales, Chris worked on decorative panels for a palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He was making 10 tonnes of latticework a week! Making stonework out of moulds you have to allow for the concrete to shrink and understand the effect the Middle Eastern heat has on concrete. Chris became a specialist in this field.

The projects were getting bigger! And it was time to leave Wales. In the late 80s, Chris worked on the gateway to Mecca – a massive structure that straddles 8 lanes of traffic and is built primarily out of glass-reinforced gypsum. The Quran on top of the structure is the size of half a football pitch!

And finally, we get to the biggest structure: the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. This was the biggest religious structure in the world at the time (it’s now the second biggest). For reference, Chris could see the original stonework in the mosque but the new elements couldn’t be replicated in the original materials. He designed all the moulds and built all the arches and decorative features out of artificial stone (i.e. concrete). But you can’t tell as the artificial stone looks exactly like the original. Amazing!

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