Dubai College’s Jafar Centre Earns LEED Gold Certification

Designed by Godwin Austen Johnson, the recently opened Jafar Centre at Dubai College has been awarded the prestigious United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy & Environment Design (LEED) Gold certification.

The school is one of only three educational facilities that are certified Gold in the MENA region. The other two highly ranked schools are Ladybird Nursery Barsha and Arcadia Secondary School – both of which were designed by Godwin Austen Johnson.

The Jafar Centre also earned the highest score in the MENA region under the Version 4 for Schools in Building Design & Construction and is the fourth highest ranked in the world outside of the USA.

"We are delighted the Jafar Centre has achieved LEED Gold. This project exemplifies what is possible when all stakeholders collaborate towards achieving sustainability goals and it demonstrates Dubai College’s commitment to provide healthy and sustainable spaces for students and employees” said Jason Burnside, managing director at Godwin Austen Johnson. “We employed a number of both active and passive measures to achieve LEED Gold status including a unique biophilia feature within the building, smart MEP for energy efficiency and low VOC materials used throughout the centre.”

The Jafar Centre is a large collaborative hub within the Dubai College campus with a number of different study and social spaces, from the open atrium steps and café to the more intimate study pods. In addition, there are several key areas on the ground floor designed to bring students together to study, socialise or for group activities. The first is a large floorplate garden that sits in the central atrium with several different zones radiating out from it. The second is an open plan library - a study in free flow allowing students to wander in and out unrestrained, and thirdly an open, accessible café provides a social area that connects directly to the outdoors.

LEED is a globally recognised symbol of excellence in green building. LEED certification ensures electricity cost savings, lower carbon emissions and healthier environments where people live, work, learn and play. LEED projects earn points by adhering to prerequisites and credits across nine measurements for building excellence from integrative design to human health to material use.