Godwin Austen Johnson (GAJ) has been appointed for the design of the new Arcadia Secondary School. GAJ will be responsible for the architecture, interior design, and MEP for the project. Designed as an educational facility for secondary grade students, The Arcadia Secondary School will be a new purpose-built school adjacent to The Arcadia Preparatory School located within Jumeirah Village Triangle.

The building, which will comfortably accommodate up to 800 students, will be designed with the majority of ground floor classrooms opening onto open protected spaces to the rear providing children with safe access to play areas from their classrooms.

Reinforcing the school within the community is critical and the building will be orientated to provide ease of access both on foot from the surrounding community and by vehicle with all parking provided in the basement.

Large sports facilities such as the swimming pool and basketball court will be placed on the roof to allow for a full-sized football pitch on the ground level.

The school will be designed in line with sustainable building practices to provide an optimally safe, healthy, and productive learning environment for students and a comfortable working environment for faculty and staff.

“Education today is a constantly evolving science and as such schools require ever-changing methods and use of space through which their education can develop,” said Jason Burnside, partner at Godwin Austen Johnson. “Keeping in mind this required flexibility, which is crucial to the school today and in the future, spaces will be designed to enable both the children and the staff to use, adapt and develop as they see fit.”