ABOVE: Though the three houses are the same in volume, each has its own articulation, orientation, and design. For example, the Imam Al-Tayeb Mosque (top) is oriented towards Makkah with seven arches on each side reflecting the importance of the number seven in Islam. The St. Francis Church (middle) features vertical columns that help provide shade, while inside 13,000 linear metres of timber hang like a vaulted ceiling. The Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue (bottom) faces towards Jerusalem, while a bronze net hangs from its skylight like a sukkah. And finally, a shared forum, garden and café unify the space.

Back in February 2019, we (like everyone else) were taken aback by the announcement from the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (popularly known as MBZ) that there would be a new project on Saadiyat Island grouping – for the very first time – a house of worship for the three major monotheistic religions in one single 6,500-square-metre plot. Then, in February 2023, exactly four years on from the date of the project announcement, The Abrahamic Family House was formally inaugurated by the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and its Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence as a beautiful and thought-provoking space that promotes understanding and dialogue.

“The Abrahamic Family House gives me hope that there is a better future out there,” reveals Abdulla Al Shehhi, its acting executive director. “Each evening you see Muslims, Christians and Jews sitting together in the courtyard café after their prayers. The centre is designed to ensure people come together: They park in the same car park, enter by the same entrance, separate to go and worship and then, when they leave, they come together again. And, we have never seen any conflict or tension between them, so that gives me hope for the future.”

As a matter of fact, in the short time it has been open The Abrahamic Family House has managed to welcome over 350,000 worshippers, visitors, delegations and students, of all backgrounds and nationalities who have been drawn to either visit the global landmark or partake in its year-round calendar of religious services and events, including celebrations of Ramadan, Easter, and Passover.

David Adjaye, the 57-year-old British-Ghanaian architect who penned the project clearly deserves some credit for its considered design. He told us over a Zoom call that this project presented an unprecedented opportunity to provide architectural healing for historic religious rifts. “There has never been a deliberate attempt to create, at the same time, a place for three religions with a convening space and I wanted to preserve the unique experience of each of the faiths while at the same time connecting them with one device, but without any notion of hierarchical difference. To me The Abrahamic Family House represents universality and totality – something higher, that enhances the richness of human life.”

Photography: David Baldinger