Client: Medusa Stonemasonry
Material: Polished Statuary Marble, Granite

stoneCIRCLE was commissioned to produce stone features in an Islamic college including a marble staircase, a marble retaining wall for a water feature, granite vanity tops for various washbasins and a marble mortuary slab, with pride of place being given to a stunning marble Mihrab for the prayer hall. In Islamic mosques, the Mihrab is a niche in a wall that indicates the qibla or the direction of Mecca. In the present day it is often ornately decorated and made to resemble a gateway or entrance to Mecca.

The Mihrab in the college is made of hand polished white Statuary Marble from Italy specifically selected for the project, and is decorated with Islamic verses carved into the stone. stoneCIRCLE was chosen for the job as it had the right mix of technical expertise, modern equipment and traditional hand skills.

The 3D technical drawings for the project were transferred from the architects to stoneCIRCLE and the gateway was carved on the company’s CNC machines without the need for modelling. Once the blocks had been cut and initial stone carving had been completed, they were polished by hand with further carving also carried out by hand in some cases. The finished piece is made up of over 30 different bits of stone which were then transported to site and assembled and installed in the prayer room.