GAJ completes Arcadia School’s Secondary Campus in Jumeirah Village Triangle
Designed for secondary school age students and much larger than the school’s primary campus it provides a more flexible and interactive learning environment
Godwin Austen Johnson (GAJ) has announced the completion of The Arcadia School’s Secondary Campus. It is said to feature a total teaching space of 6,000sqm including classrooms, shared learning and labs. The ancillary facilities which include the library, music and dance rooms cover an area of 1,500sqm.
According to a statement from GAJ, the campus is located within Jumeirah Village Triangle (JVT) in Dubai and is in close proximity to the primary school. The orientation of the secondary campus and its functions are said to have been optimised to exploit the view over the central Jumeirah Village Triangle Park.
This is the second school designed and built by the firm, as part of a series of community-based schools for Arcadia Education. The Arcadia School’s Primary Campus, which was also designed and built by GAJ, was handed over in 2016, the statement said.
“We have been designing and building schools for many years and we understand and value the opportunity to create unique buildings for school operators. Each one we deliver is tailored to the specific requirements and brand identity of the school. With this new school we wanted to ensure brand consistency and a design approach to support the ethos and visual identity of Arcadia,” said Jason Burnside, partner at Godwin Austen Johnson.
Drawing inspiration from the Arcadia School’s primary campus, the reception is bright and airy opening out into a large casual seating zone with a unique 12m high indoor climbing wall feature, GAJ said. The wall is said 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 new secondary school features a full sized artificial pitch, a 25m swimming pool and MUGA court, which can be accessed by the primary school when required. This sharing of facilities also helps with the transition from primary to secondary education, building confidence for the students about to move to the next stage of their education, the statement said.
GAJ stated that the Arcadia School is the second in a series of community-based schools, delivering the vision of Mohan Valrani and the Al Shirawi Group.
