Work has started on a £25m (US$37m, €33m) community and leisure centre in Harrow, North London.

Planning was granted back in 2010 for the project, which seeks to create a 5,000sq m (53,820sq ft) centre, acting as a ‘cultural embassy’ for Harrow’s community.

London and Barcelona-based Mangera Yvars Architects is the firm behind the project. The practice originally set out to provide a space where people of any faith could come together as one in an informal environment.

Once complete, the centre will house restaurants, a library, an underground sports hall, children’s play areas, exhibition spaces, lecture rooms and areas for prayer and meditation.

The building is being constructed effectively in two halves due to a culverted river flowing across the site. The structure will be blended into the surrounding landscape with the creation of a ‘contemplation garden’ running along the back of the site, and an open public space will be provided in the form of a courtyard.

Design details, such as the intricate exterior cladding, will have patterns relating to William Morris, Isfagan and the Maasai Mara, while harking back to an overarching theme of suburban Harrow.