Work on a new £1.5million mosque and community centre for north-east Moslems will start next month.
Chap Construction has been named as the main contractor for the Masjid Alhikmah, a three-storey complex planned for Aberdeen’s Nelson Street.
The firm will complete the £750,000 structural and external works at the centre.
The facility will cater for the city’s 4,000-plus Moslem community and will include prayer halls, youth facilities and space for funeral preparations.
The Alhikmah Foundation is behind the development, and has been fundraising to turn the former warehouse building into a mosque for several years.
A spokesman for the group – which had the property donated to it – said he hoped the new centre would create “harmony” within the north-east Moslem community.
He said: “We anticipate work beginning on site for the first phase by January, with a 22-week programme in place for the work specified in the contract.
“This phase will cover the extension to the building and the creation of specially-commissioned facade. Full planning consent was granted earlier in the year and with the contract now in place we are pleased to be moving forward.
“The work over the coming months is important, but Masjid Alhikmah is about far more than bricks and mortar.
“Our aim for the long-term is to support a real sense of harmony within our community and to be integral to life in Aberdeen and the north-east.”
The spokesman added: “There has been a real community effort in fundraising, with everything from a very well supported family day at Mile End School, which raised £5,000, to a Ben Nevis Challenge, which added £15,000 to the total.
“We’re keen to encourage similar events in 2015 as the project enters an exciting phase.”
A second tender for internal work, estimated at about £600,000, is also being produced.
Douglas Thomson, joint managing director of Chap, said: “We are delighted to have been selected to lead the construction programme and look forward to delivering a first class community facility.
“We are working closely with the project team to realise their vision for the centre.”