Learning

Abu Dhabi Schools

Brief
Early in 2009, Keppie was invited to take part in an international ideas competition which sought the best in 'schools design' from around the world. The Abu Dhabi Education Council had been established to develop a new framework for the development of more than three hundred and fifty educational facilities across the Emirate. Their brief to the shortlisted designers was to consider a range of up to nine different school configurations in a variety of urban or rural contexts. These variations were based on a model of learning similar to the UK with kindergartens, primary schools and high schools mixed to suit the community.
Response
Our conceptual development focused on five of these scenarios. This gave us a broad spread of differing circumstances from kindergarten to high school with full gender separation in a more rural context, but a more liberal sharing of facilities in the city centre locations. The issues raised by our design solutions highlighted our belief that educational considerations are generally universal and centre on the need for adaptable and flexible spaces in which a new technological paradigm might be promoted. The social interaction of the students is important and our design work sought to place social areas where this could intuitively happen at the centre of each facility.
Outcome
Our design ideas were very well received and from an original invitation to more than fifty practices worldwide, we were placed in the final five. The most successful of our proposals was an organic rural primary school and integrated kindergarten which we were asked by ADEC to develop further. The programme for the development of the schools in Abu Dhabi is now being developed in phases with the first three practices being invited to respond to the first wave of projects, with the suggestion that other firms from the top ten will be invited to respond to the forthcoming waves of schools and educational facilities. This project submission led to us being invited to submit design ideas for the new ADEC HQ building in the centre of Abu Dhabi.

Team