The Prophet’s Mosque

Overview

In 2023, WSDG, carrying the legacy of ADA-AMC, was commissioned as part of a significant undertaking at The Prophet’s Mosque (Arabic:ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلنَّبَوِي‎ romanized: al-Masjid al-Nabawī or ’Mosque of the Prophet’) in Madinah, one of the oldest and holiest sites in Islam. Known for its spiritual and historical significance, the mosque receives millions of worshippers annually, placing exceptional demands on the intelligibility and clarity of its sound systems.

The client, BTAT (a subsidiary of Saudi Binladin Group), engaged WSDG to consult on the comprehensive replacement of the mosque’s sound system, which was over 30 years old. The scope covered not only the prayer halls but also extended to the surrounding piazzas, roof and streets, requiring a holistic and highly sensitive acoustic design approach.

Working under strict architectural and heritage constraints, the WSDG team developed a system design that respected the mosque’s historical fabric while meeting modern expectations for speech intelligibility and coverage. WSDG’s longstanding relationship with BTAT, which began with prior work in Makkah, helped lay the foundation for a seamless collaboration on this challenging and prestigious project.

Program

WSDG’s work focused on AV system design and advanced acoustic simulation, covering the mosque’s vast interior as well as its open-air plazas, with their acoustic behavior analysed using EASE modeling software.

The goal was to propose a new sound system that could deliver consistent, high-quality audio across vastly different acoustical environments, while accounting for the unique architectural constraints of each space. WSDG recommended advanced hundreds loudspeakers from HOLOPLOT and Renkus-Heinz, both of which were selected following detailed simulation and approval by the client.

Acoustic measurements were conducted on-site by Wolfgang Ahnert and Khaled Wazaefi in January and May of 2025, allowing direct comparison of simulation results with real-world performance and informing final verification and calibration steps.

Integration and installation are being carried out by BTAT, with network and electronic infrastructure supported by Stagetec, a German firm specializing in high-performance digital audio networks.

Design

Designing within a sacred and architecturally protected structure presents unique challenges. No acoustic treatments or physical alterations to the existing structure were permitted, meaning all improvements had to be achieved solely through precise simulation, intelligent speaker design, and strategic system placement.

The new system design provides perfect speech intelligibility (STI) and sound pressure level (SPL) uniformity across all zones, without disturbing the integrity of the mosque’s heritage. WSDG’s detailed EASE models were used to confirm possible speaker locations and to guide installation, ensuring that coverage and clarity are maintained even under the acoustical limitations of highly reflective surfaces and cavernous volumes.

The Prophet’s Mosque project stands as a rare intersection of technological innovation and reverent preservation, ensuring that every word spoken reaches the faithful with clarity, while safeguarding one of the most sacred spaces in the world.