Eternal Wall
of Answered
Prayer

The Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer is a national landmark that seeks to Make Hope Visible at the heart of the nation.

“It’s an incredibly ambitious, stunning project... in terms of a real statement, a landmark for the Midlands, I think it’s an incredibly progressive, ambitious piece of architecture.”

Andy Street CBE, Mayor of the West Midlands

Take the tour

The design for the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, a national landmark of hope, that is to be built at the centre of the UK, was inspired, perhaps fittingly, during a time of prayer. The concept is a simple spark of inspiration, a Möbius Strip, a non-orientable surface which seemingly has no beginning or end. Our prayers were answered when we won the competition, our hope now is that Eternal Wall will become a much loved national monument that encourages millions and both deepens our nation's understanding of, and engagement with, prayer.

The project seeks to encourage and inspire people through the storms of life. It has three goals: 'to preserve the Christian heritage of the nation; encourage prayer; and proclaim Jesus for the country'. We are privileged to be part of this amazing project.

Planning permission has now been granted for the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, a national landmark to sit at the heart of the nation on land in Coleshill near Birmingham. This monumental piece of public art is to consist of one million bricks, with each brick representing an answered prayer. Our interpretation of The Wall depicts a Möbius strip (a non-orientable surface which seemingly has no beginning and no end) and won top spot in a global competition launched by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2016.

Beating a field of 133 entries from 25 countries, the Snug winning concept was first finalised in a field of five, before being selected as the stand-out design in May 2019 by a judging panel of industry experts and national influencers.

Application for the huge landmark structure was submitted to North Warwickshire Borough Council. The project includes a visitor centre and public open space, including a car park and landscaped gardens, where visitors will be welcome to relax and reflect on the relevance and power of prayer.

With construction due to be complete in 2022, Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer will sit close to both the M6 and M42 and rise 50 metres into the skyline, to be seen by an estimated 500,000 journeys each week across the two motorways, the new HS2, and flight paths in and out of Birmingham airport.

The massive architectural sculpture will celebrate and preserve the UK’s rich Christian heritage and be a holding home for testimonies of answered prayers not only submitted by people from around the country, but also discovered by historians, highlighting answered prayer going back as far as thirteen centuries ago in 600 AD.

CEO Richard Gamble, who first had the idea for the Eternal Wall in 2004, states "Sixteen years ago, I felt God speak to me and give me the idea. It's an audacious project, but I believe God is helping us achieve it. This building has been my dream for many years,” he says. “It’s phenomenal to see it all finally fleshed out by Snug in such a beautiful and elegant design.

“We want to celebrate and remember all the prayers that God has answered for individuals throughout our nation’s history. Our hope is that this will be a piece of art that provokes discussion, and that when people visit the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer and interact with the one million testimonies, they will see a small glimpse of God’s character. We expect that this will have a significant impact on our nation.

“Since the RIBA competition ended, I’ve been able to work more closely with Snug on a more detailed brief, and the team has taken the design to the next level. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

Paul Bulkeley is Head Architect for the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer and is founding director of Snug Architects. He says: “It is fitting that both the concept and our eventual success in winning the competition were a personal answer to prayer! We are all very excited to see this impressive project another step closer to reality. It’s a structure of national significance and we are honoured to have played a part in the vision and the team that brings such a large-scale monument to the heart of the UK.”

Carl Brookes, Director of Engineering Simulation at Ramboll says: “It is not often that opportunities to work on such ground-breaking architecture occur, and so we are absolutely delighted to be working with Snug and the Eternal Wall team on delivering this national monument. To develop the engineering required to make the truly radical and gravity-defying form of the Möbius strip reality will be both challenging and thrilling. Undoubtedly this will be an inspirational, thought-provoking and iconic structure for generations to see and visit.”

Renato Benedetti, Director of Benedetti Architects was the Chair of the RIBA judging panel, and comments: “It was clear to me from the beginning that this was the stand-out proposal. It’s soaring sculptural form, meaningful elegant variety of spaces and clever use of the site, had the inspiring wow-factor to engage and enthral visitors.

“It’s a privilege to be involved throughout and a joy to see the design mature and progress to the planning application. Well done everyone!”

Construction for Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer is due to start in 2022.

The Golden Ratio

The miracle of the Golden Ratio

The miracle of the Golden Ratio

When we had finished creating Eternal Wall we were amazed to discover that the form mapped exactly to the Golden Ratio. This astonishing ratio can be found in all of creation from the proportions of your body to the spirals of our galaxy.

The astonishing thing is we did not design it to do this. What is more, the overall height and width when viewed at exactly 90 degrees to the motorway, the primary point from which the monument will be viewed, not only mapped the golden ratio but its dimensions were those that begin with the scale of a human at its centre.

We were particularly pleased that this mapping was not perfect, we were a few percent out in places. Nothing made by human hands is perfect after all...only God is perfect.