"To give thanks, the client gifted land to build a small 500 sqm community prayer hall within a meditation garden in Nabatiyeh, Lebanon. Clad wholly with local stone, the prayer hall is a leaning white cube. From a landing on the edge of the site to the approach over a stone bridge, one enters through an eight-meter high by one-meter wide slit leading to a juncture: the entrance to the main prayer hall is along a triangular promontory that points to the Qibla, and narrow stairs continue up a meandering path to a roof prayer space. The directional sanctuary is adorned with mystical calligraphy, a modern composition of the twenty-nine Qoranic keys, listing the name and number of the sura each opens. The interior is lit by five bands of horizontal windows made of translucent local marble, diffusing the light through the natural grain. In contrast, an oculus high up in the ceiling focuses sunlight onto the manbar. The design has its roots and proportions in Islamic traditions prevalent at the time of the Prophet and reinterprets the spatial experience of the Kaaba for a contemporary audience. The spiral ‘promenade architecturale’ begins with the main stair and reaches the roof referring back to several models of ritualistic pathways around sacred architecture, both ancient and modern. The Musalla is clad only with local stone and uses passive cooling and thermal walls to minimize its impact on the environment. It also engaged the local community in its construction and landscaping. "