Reception Facility for Dubai College, UAE School Architecture, Building Interior Images

Dubai College Reception Building

New Education Architecture in UAE design by Godwin Austen Johnson Architects

5 Mar 2018

Reception Building for Dubai College

Design: Godwin Austen Johnson Architects (GAJ)

Location: Dubai, UAE

New Reception Building Adds Modern Direction for Dubai College

Godwin Austen Johnson (GAJ) has completed the design of the new reception building for Dubai College.

The reception building is the latest phase of development for the school and has been designed to act as a contemporary student gateway to the existing campus whilst providing a new visitor arrival experience, purpose built offices and centralised staff facilities.

“Dubai College has a leading reputation as a traditional school that delivers quality education however they also have a charm and quirkiness that we wanted to maintain. It’s fundamentally a British school but very firmly rooted here in the Middle East with its juxtaposition of British quadrangles (or Arabic courtyards) and low density clusters of single and double storey faculty blocks,” said Jason Burnside, partner at Godwin Austen Johnson.

“The location of the building was a key driver in the way that we designed it,” said Burnside. “It needed to occupy a very prominent location near to the plot boundary which means it is highly visible from the road and creates a public face for the school. In addition it has the added benefit of controlling pedestrian access and ensuring the safety and security of the students as they arrive and leave.

The dramatic steel cantilever or ‘gateway’ floats over a water feature and glazed reception surrounded with shade trees, planting and coloured concrete seating cubes. At the end of the day it’s fantastic to see the students interacting with the space as they wait to be collected.”

Managing partner Brian Johnson first designed the school 40 years ago with his previous firm and GAJ has designed all of the new buildings since then as they continue to advise on the school’s expansion plans.

The next phase of work for GAJ will be the refurbishment of D-Block to provide a modern centre of teaching excellence with open plan learning hubs for collaborative learning as well as upgrading the existing classrooms to the latest standards for energy efficiency and technology. In addition to this, the firms MEP team have designed and completed a substantial centralised plant facility to increase operational efficiency and provide the essential infrastructure for future expansion

About GAJ
GAJ (Godwin Austen Johnson) is one of the largest and longest-established UK architectural and design practices in the UAE. Throughout its history, which spans nearly 30 years in the region, the company has created some of the Emirates most iconic buildings and has helped define the Emirates as we know it today.

An award-winning and multi-disciplinary architecture, interior design, specialist lighting and MEP practice, GAJ has particular expertise in hotel and hospitality, residential and commercial, education, sport and leisure design. Despite its years the company remains young and dynamic employing more than 180 employees from its Dubai headquarters with offices also in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Riyadh, Jeddah, Muscat, Salalah and the UK. The GAJ portfolio of work is extensive with a wide range of built and ongoing projects across the Middle East and North Africa.

Godwin Austen Johnson is committed to the belief that the quality of the built environment is an essential part of the economic and cultural fabric of society in which the very best architectural approach plays a central and intrinsic role.

Reception Building for Dubai College images / information received 050318

Address: Dubai College, PO Box 837, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +971 4 3999111