Smethwick mosque plan revealed
A mosque and Islamic centre in Smethwick will be knocked down and rebuilt as a three storey place of worship.
The Masjid and Bangladeshi Islamic Centre, which is based in converted industrial units in Lewisham Road, is a currently one storey building.
Plans are now in the pipeline to knock it down and in its place a golden aluminium fronted building would rise up with facilities including classrooms, an IT suite, gym and a player hall.
The main building will be created from darker brick and concrete with large glass windows on the front.
Officials say the building is split into two parts linked by a central glazed atrium.
Areas for dining, the gym and IT facilities will be accommodated within the brick-built building with circular windows to allow light inside.
Bosses behind the scheme say the second building contains classrooms, meeting rooms, prayer hall and associated washrooms and toilets.
In a report to Sandwell Council, centre leaders say they have consulted with the community as part of the design process.
The decorative gold screen serves several purposes will form part of the outside of the frontage with a nod to Islamic religious and cultural architectural.
Officials at the mosque said the design had been created in light of a major multi-million regeneration scheme planning in Smethwick.
Work is due to start within weeks on the £42 million Brindley Village II regeneration scheme that sits on the nearby canal.
Almost 200 homes and properties would be built in the areas that will include the creation of shops, roads and open spaces created on a 12 acre site around Lewisham Road, Mafeking Road and the Birmingham Mainline canal.
In the report, consultants on behalf of the mosque leaders, said: "The site currently sits between predominantly residential to the north and industrial and cleared land to the south.
"The proposal seeks to respond to the existing local context and the proposed Brindley Village II development, which will significantly change the area with a much greater residential population, and in turn generate more local visitors to the centre.
"The proposal seeks to respond to both existing and future site conditions.
"The draft Planning and Design brief for Brindley II highlights the site as being an 'important focal point' at the entrance to the development, and that the site is a 'key opportunity for a major landmark building'."
A decision will be taken over the planning application in coming weeks.
