Cranleigh, Abu Dhabi

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is a private school development for Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), Abu Dhabi, located on Saadiyat Island and operated by Cranleigh, a historic private boarding school located in Surrey, UK. GAJ developed the design of the project in close association with TDIC and Cranleigh to ensure that the campus embodied the spirit, energy and quality of the existing school and campus in the new setting of Saadiyat, while Tafseer Contracting helped implement the fit-out requirements.

The overall school campus is made up of nine educational building elements that sit around a village green. The intention of the project was to create an integrated school campus to serve students from FS1 (4 years old) to Year 13 (18 year olds) which required the design of two main buildings with shared facilities.

Learning is not just the ability to input selected information. Children are constantly learning from sights, sounds, interaction with each other and through technology. The environment can greatly improve the quality of this learning and create a sense of pride, confidence and maturity. It is this understanding of how each particular stage in development, from child to adult, is encouraged that has determined the interior design for the public spaces, junior and senior school.

The interiors for the senior school reflect the maturity and sophistication of the pupils by making reference to the atmosphere of a commercial office environment, rather than that of an educational institution. Reference was made to Cranleigh’s credentials and history through an underlying main palette of finishes, but each department has its own branding and entrance akin to a corporate identity. Oak and joinery with modern detailing have been combined with a restrained palette of colours, each reflecting a separate department. Aside from the usual classroom configuration, informal meeting and study spaces are provided similar to the third spaces in a modern commercial environment. This acknowledges the increased requirement for personalised learning and e-learning in the future.

The atrium has been designed for pupils and staff alike to utilize during the day and, out of hours and the auditorium can be used by the general public. This is the light bright heart of the campus and reflects activities for the whole community. The main entrance is located here and a reception desk welcomes guests providing assistance and information as they enter. Beyond this a central open courtyard with trees and plants provide a natural focus for the café seating area. Different levels and walkways show constant activity around the full height of the space and bright colours and textures provide visual stimulation.

The junior school is made up of several departments, connected to a triple height central street where the pupils can play and interact with each other. Each department is dedicated to different groups between the ages of three and eleven. At ground level the kinder library has soft low level seating, book display and blackboard/soft felt areas for children to draw and create pictures. For the younger children department form and colour is at its most simplistic. Colourful, fun environments with soft surfaces, textures and unusual shapes heighten their imagination, allowing for spontaneous exploration and investigation. Spacious, light and airy this is a thoroughly modern establishment designed to emulate the highly respected Cranleigh in the UK. This heritage is reflected in the graphics and underlying main palette of quality finishes throughout.