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The nation鈥檚 mosques are 鈥渇ull to bursting鈥�, according to a spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain. 鈥淭here are mosques where people are praying outside, putting their carpets down in the street.鈥�

It seems that the UK needs more mosques and those is already has need expanding. 好色先生TV them should, in theory, be a pretty attractive proposition for the construction industry. For one thing, they can be large projects: the proposed Markaz Mosque in the Newham, east London, could cost up to 拢300m. And mosques are among the most beautiful buildings anywhere. Witness Istanbul鈥檚 Blue Mosque, with its cascade of magnificent domes surrounded by six slender minarets.

The truth is though that despite the demand, mosque building in the UK is plagued by planning struggles, lack of money and uninspiring designs.

The MCB spokesperson says: 鈥淣ot only is the Muslim population growing in Britain but so is the converted population. As a result, mosques are absolutely chock-a-block. Often the whole family can鈥檛 go to mosque; they are forced to stay at home because there isn鈥檛 enough space.鈥�

The Greenwich Islamic Centre in Plumstead is a prime example. Every Friday lunchtime, when the most important prayer of the week takes place, some 2,000 worshippers descend on the small building. This is around 75% more than the building can cope with, say the trustees of the building. The devout are forced to put their mats down and pray in the car park and even on the grotty pavement outside.

The Greenwich Islamic Centre鈥檚 trustees managed to scrape plans for a centre through the planning system last month. But it has been a struggle and even now the project is far from straightforward. Planning permission is the first, and perhaps the biggest, hurdle facing mosque schemes. 鈥淧eople oppose mosques for all sorts of reasons,鈥� says the MCB spokesperson.

In Newham, the Markaz Mosque, also known as the Abbey Mills Mosque, faces fierce opposition. It has been dubbed the mega-mosque in the local press because it will have capacity for 12,000 worshippers, which would make it Britain鈥檚 largest mosque. It鈥檚 also on the doorstep of the Olympic site, next to West Ham tube station.

Alan Craig, a local councillor and leader of the Newham branch of the Christian Peoples Alliance, is openly against the mosque. He says: 鈥淭his is a security issue. We don鈥檛 need a socking great monstrous mosque coming here and preaching separatism. I am aghast that Newham council is even considering granting planning permission.鈥�

His beef is with the people who are proposing to build the Marzak: Tablighi Jamaat, an international missionary group founded in India in the twenties. Craig claims the mosque would pose a security risk because of Tablighi Jamaat鈥檚 alleged links to terrorism. He also says the group advises its members not to mix with the rest of society, which is 鈥渟omething we don鈥檛 want down here in east London where people of different religions get on well鈥�. He says he would not oppose the mosque if the client were 鈥渁 sensible, moderate group鈥�.

Faisal Iqbal of Tablighi Jamaat is a member of the Abbey Mills Mosque. He insists that the group supports neither terrorism nor separatism. 鈥淥ur organisation is not under cover. We are slap bang in the middle of London. As for terrorism, we are moving people away from extremist views. We work with Special Branch and the Metropolitan Police. If we were preaching something extremist, they鈥檇 be all over us.鈥�

He says that being accused of supporting terrorism has become 鈥渢he norm for Muslims鈥�. In the seventies, it was the same for Irish people: everyone thought they supported the IRA.

They want to build the mosque, he says, because the existing building at the site is struggling to cope with visitor levels. Up to 4,000 people visit at a time and the mosque is asking people to stay away.

John Rees, national secretary of the Respect party, says the building of mosques has become highly political because of the environment created by the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. 鈥淧eople think that Muslims all hold one particular view. But that鈥檚 like saying all Christians support George Bush. Muslims hold a variety of views, just like any other group of people.鈥�

Even the relatively small 拢8.7m rebuild of the Greenwich centre had to fight for planning permission. The centre鈥檚 trustees dropped their original project manager because pre-application advice from the council suggested that the scheme would not win planning permission.

It then appointed an expert in mosque projects, Catalyst Regeneration. Catalyst has about 拢70m of construction projects on its books, of which 拢20m are mosques. The Birmingham-based firm is handling project management, design and cost control for Greenwich, which was eventually given planning consent on its first attempt.

Billal Raza, development project manager at Catalyst, says: 鈥淭he client brought us in because it needed someone with experience of getting planning approval for Islamic centres in London. We have 20 years鈥� experience of designing mosques.鈥�

He says Catalyst has had to develop a meticulous approach to applications: 鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult negotiating these types of projects. So many battles are fought to build them because communities misunderstand what is being proposed.鈥� To address this, Raza says he goes into plenty of detail. 鈥淲e always explain the purpose of the building, what we are proposing and why. On another scheme, the local authority鈥檚 urban planner couldn鈥檛 understand our design. We had to explain that men and women must be segregated in the mosque, so they have separate entrances. We also had to explain that a mosque must be orientated towards the big cube in Mecca, the Kaaba, because all Muslims pray towards it.鈥�

Planning authorities may also be confused about when the building will be used. 鈥淚n the height of summer the first prayer will be at 5am but this moves towards seven in the morning in winter,鈥� says Raza.

Unlike its current incarnation, the new Islamic centre at Greenwich will look like a mosque, complete with dome and a large minaret. This has brought further problems, says Raza. 鈥淧lanning authorities worry that the call to prayer will be broadcast over the neighbourhood through the minaret.鈥� But he says Greenwich will avoid the row that has erupted in Oxford over the proposal to broadcast the call: it will only be audible within the walls of the mosque.

Fears that a mosque will cause separatism had also to be addressed. In the case of Greenwich, Raza believes the planning application was strengthened by the inclusion of sports facilities that will be open to non-Muslims. It was also made clear that the building would have an 鈥渙pen and friendly design鈥�. This is being achieved by lots of windows and making sure security features such as CCTV have a low profile.

Security is a big issue. At Greenwich, the client has had to meet extra requirements from the police. Raza says that initially Greenwich police wanted 鈥渁 big steel fence around the centre and for anyone visiting the mosque to have an electronic pass鈥�.

But security measures had to be balanced against the need for a 鈥渇riendly design鈥�.

So, a compromise was reached: there will be no fence or entry passes, but there will be security officers at the building鈥檚 entrances. Access to the car park will be controlled and there will be bollards on the grass outside so cars cannot get close to the building.

Akram Bonham, Catalyst鈥檚 architect on the Greenwich scheme, has sourced a special cladding for the building which is translucent, provides insulation and is also shatterproof. The panels, made by Stoakes Systems, cleverly meet the building鈥檚 needs for transparency and security.

Despite Bonham鈥檚 innovative approach and optimistic prediction that the project will be a fusion of the 鈥渢raditional and the contemporary鈥�, it鈥檚 clear that this building will be no Blue Mosque. There simply isn鈥檛 the money. Raza says: 鈥淚t is difficult: The client needs to work hard to raise funds from the community. There is no government regeneration money for these projects.鈥� Likewise, the Abbey Mills mosque will be entirely funded by Tablighi Jamaat.

The shaky funding for the project means that it is likely to have to happen in phases, as and when the money can be raised. This means a standard JCT contract will be used, which is the best form for phased schemes. Bonham says this also means that once a contractor is appointed it will 鈥渘eed to be reassured that the funding for the project will come through鈥�.

Another quirk of building mosques is that the scheme tends to be closer to the hearts of the client and the local community that tends to be the main source of money. As a result, Bonham says: 鈥淭he community usually wants to be more involved in the project. It鈥檚 more like building their own home than say, building an office.鈥�

Yet it seems there could be a case for local government to help with the funding of mosques, especially where they provide facilities for the entire community, such as the swimming pool in the Greenwich scheme.

The spokesperson from the MCB admits that many British mosques are not the prettiest of buildings, but adds that this is not their most important purpose: 鈥淎 mosque is foremost a place of prayer and the centre of the community.鈥� But there is a good chance that Abbey Mills will break the mould because it will have traditional architecture, including up to two minarets. Allies and Morrison is designing it, and planning permission will be submitted early next year.

For those who do get involved in mosque building projects, what鈥檚 the appeal? Bonham says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to work so closely with a community and realise their dreams. It鈥檚 a long process and the design is constrained by funding and security needs, but that makes it an interesting challenge. When you finally get there and see children running round the building, it鈥檚 fantastic.鈥�