GAJ’s Arcadia High School designed project is first in the region to achieve LEED Gold
The Arcadia High School, designed by Godwin Austen Johnson (GAJ), is the first school in the Middle East to be awarded the LEED V4 (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Gold certification.
It was awarded 62 points by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) making it the fourth highest ranking school outside of the USA.
Completed in 2020, The Arcadia High School, located in Dubai’s Jumeirah Village Circle, covers a total teaching space of 7500sqm including classrooms, shared learning and labs. The ancillary facilities which includes the library, music and dance rooms cover an area of 1500sqm.
Drawing inspiration from Arcadia School, the primary school completed by GAJ in 2016, the secondary school’s reception is bright and airy opening out into a large casual seating zone with a unique 12 metre high indoor climbing wall feature. The inclusion of the wall was designed to reinforce the school’s ethos of transparency and its desire to ensure students play a highly visible and interactive role in their education.
“The Arcadia High School is a prime example of sustainable design and construction and we are thrilled the project has been awarded LEED Gold certification,” said Jason Burnside, partner at Godwin Austen Johnson. “Throughout the project our aim was to put in place a whole raft of sustainable measures including a thermally insulated building envelope, LED lighting with daylight/motion sensor controls and a high performance water cooled oil-free magnetic bearings chillers.”
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Bogle Architects prioritises sustainability for creating the new Royal Grammar School Guildford campus at Tilal Al Ghaf
The Royal Grammar School Guildford, is working with international architecture practice Bogle Architects to create the school’s first campus in the UAE. Every part of the forward-looking school has been designed to facilitate the Royal Grammar School Guildford’s innovative approach to teaching and learning, while utilising eco-friendly design modifications to ensure that the building is a sustainable hub.
Located within Majid Al Futtaim’s flagship Dubai community Tilal Al Ghaf – which also includes residential, commercial, leisure and retail elements – the Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai is Bogle Architects’ first design project in the UAE and will accommodate and support up to 2,100 pupils from Early Years through to Prep and Senior School.
The impressive campus is set over approximately 40,000sqm, with classrooms, labs and other learning spaces linked by a beautiful ‘street’ concept featuring a lush, central atrium of trees, plants and living ‘biophilic’ walls.
The ‘street’ serves as a communal hub and breakout space for pupils as well as an extension of every classroom, providing a thoroughly modern and flexible learning environment with nature at its heart to reinforce pupil wellbeing. There will also be a 500+ seat, multi-purpose auditorium, an impressive double-storey library, a multi-functional sports facility including a 25m swimming pool, a smaller learning pool and a full-size football pitch.
The campus design seeks to maximise the school’s sustainability and provide an environment that aids children and staff wellness. The stepped design of the main building, with each successive floor expanding outwards, ensures the classrooms are self-shaded from the year-round Dubai sunshine, mitigating solar impact. This smart design feature will also provide the younger children located at ground level with 27 shaded Early Years classrooms with exterior and interior play areas. The Facility will also provide passive ventilation and biophilic elements, creating create a cool, comfortable learning environment that supports pupils in their studies.
The facility is being constructed by Multiplex, a leading and award-winning global construction company who have been established in Dubai since 1997.
Ian Bogle, founder of Bogle Architects, commented: “This is our first project in the UAE and the environmental challenges were clear from day one, so we wanted to make the building as passive as possible. This is where the stepping structure offered a solution for self-shading but also created an internal hierarchy for the distribution of children over the height of the building. The largest spaces at the top for the older children and the more intimate on the lowest floor for the younger children. We are delighted that the project is developing and have really enjoyed working closely with the Royal Grammar School Guildford Leadership team in creating what will be a fantastic addition to the heritage of the school.”
RGS Guildford Dubai will open in September 2021, subject to KHDA approval and completion of construction at the campus in Tilal A lGhaf.
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