Gulf Construction Online - TDIC plans elite school on Saadiyat Island

UAE Focus

An artist’s impression of the school.

TDIC plans elite school on Saadiyat Island

01 January 2013

Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), which has joined forces with UK-based Cranleigh School to open an elite campus on Saadiyat Island, has invited contractors to prequalify for the main works of the project (see Tenders).

The master developer of major tourism, cultural and residential destinations in Abu Dhabi recently announced its partnership with the school to open the campus, from pre-school up to university level by the third quarter of 2014.

The agreement signing ceremony took place at Manarat Al Saadiyat and was attended by Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, TDIC’s chairman, Dr Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili, director-general of the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), and representatives from the Royal Group, Cranleigh’s representative in the region, alongside senior delegates from Cranleigh.

To be built over seven hectares of land, with a capacity to accommodate more than 1,600 students, aged from three to 18 years, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi will become the largest school campus in the emirate with open green spaces, extensive landscaping and an ambient environment. In addition, it will host facilities comprising separate junior and senior schools with each housing its own classrooms, faculty offices, administration offices, dining hall and library.

Commenting on this initiative, Al-Khaili said: “By attracting leading education institutions such as Cranleigh to Abu Dhabi, we are supporting the emirate’s long-term educational vision. Our private school sector strategy focuses on increasing access to private schools and improving the quality of education by focusing on students’ performance, while also stressing on high-standard teaching methods and leadership qualities.”

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi will be complement the wide range of educational facilities on Saadiyat, such as a pre-school nursery opening in 2013 and New York University Abu Dhabi that will serve some 2,500 students after it is completed in 2014.

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi will house specialist facilities for music, science, art, design and technology, drama, dance, and sport classes, as well as state-of-the-art IT facilities with the latest technology. These will be complemented by a shared 650-seat auditorium, 2,900-sq m sports centre and 19,300 sq m of outdoor fields with generously spacious recreational areas.

The sporting facilities will include two grass pitches, an Astroturf pitch, four tennis courts, two swimming pools and an indoor arena comprising two full-sized courts, which can be used for basketball, football, badminton, gymnasium, dance studio and drama suite.

The school, located next to Manarat Al Saadiyat and the UAE Pavilion in the Saadiyat Cultural District, will also offer boarding facilities – a first for Abu Dhabi.

Designed by Godwin Austen Johnson Architects, the UK-based award-winning architectural firm, the school is currently in the schematic design phase, which will be ready by the first quarter of 2013.