Grand Mosque

The project – Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, or Grand Mosque – comprises a main prayer hall “Haram” for 7000 worshipers and main entrance flanked by a double-storey gallery and ancillary conditioned prayer areas with wind towers over. Main domes over the Haram reach a height of 75 metres. An open “Sahan” courtyard fronts the main Haram entrance and is bound on all sides by covered arcades and four 107 metre-high minarets. Separate mechanical and electrical technical buildings communicate with the various areas of the mosque via service tunnels which extend to ablution and waiting areas located either side of the Sahan Courtyard entrance.

Cooling load was calculated and simulated using IES thermal model. The occupancy profiles were carefully selected to match the various peak and intermittent usage of the mosque. Special attention was given to the high occupancy times of Friday’s noon pray and also for the evening long pray time at month of Ramadan. Fresh air requirements were evaluated by CO₂ modeling. Energy recovery wheels were designed to save ventilation energy at peak occupancy profiles and to reduce the chillers' capacity. Night summer humid times were given special focus being the times of large internal loads and conduction loads of the massive mosque structure. Detailed CFD analysis studied air temperatures and velocities for the main prayer hall and the three entrance halls. This determined the best type, locations and orientations of stet air diffusers and also ensued no cold draughts. Mosque volume was separated into low level occupied zone (up to 3 m), intermediate level non-occupied zone (up to 27m) and high domes zones (up to 65 m). The design temperatures were closely maintained at the high density occupied low level zone (0.70 m²/person), while reasonable elevated temperatures were allowed at non-occupied zones. Controlled extract air from the domes’ apexes allowed temperature control in the domes' zones to preserve the fabrics as well as controlling the internal air pressurization in the Mosque.