SITE VISIT | UAE UNIVERSITY
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The centrepiece Crescent Building.
purpose-built university from scratch, designed and documented in a period of eight months conjures up images of drab boxy buildings lining clinical grid streets, yet UAE University’s new campus in Al Ain couldn’t be further from this. With its shaded canopies, narrow alleyways, open courtyards and water features, it somehow feels like a charming old city, albeit one with ultra-contemporary buildings. “Our design brief was to create a contemporary university that would rival the leading education infrastructure projects around the world,” says Greg Howlett, director of Australia-based Cox Architecture. Cox was behind the detailed masterplan, concept design, design development and documentation, while Woods Bagot created the initial masterplan concept. The progressive Western-style buildings are used for a very traditional form of education, with
strictly enforced gender segregation. While the female campus opened last year, along with the landmark Crescent Building, the male campus is preparing to welcome students for the new semester in September. The university’s shared facilities required sophisticated planning in order
to maintain segregation. Howlett explains: “The laboratories required a lot of planning so the buildings could operate at the same time with both male and female students, but without cross-over. “We have separate entrances for males and females, so the buildings can be separated through the middle of the buildings or level changes. There are
US$544 MILLION VALUE OF CAMPUS
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