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The Ladybird Nursery is a single storey building with indoor and outdoor play area, the project was completed in August 2022 Godwin Austen Johnson (GAJ) has said that Dubai’s Ladybird Nursery is the second in the Middle East to achieve LEED Gold Certification. GAJ designed the project, which is located in Al Barsha, Dubai, and said that the first Ladybird Early Learning Centre – which it also designed – was the first to achieve the certification in 2016. Based on a points system, LEED certification is a globally recognised symbol of sustainability achievement providing a framework for healthy, efficient, carbon and cost-saving green buildings, the firm said in its statement. The Ladybird Early Learning Centre and the Ladybird Nursery have both achieved the highest scores for a pre-school outside of the United States, with scores of 72 points and 68 points respectively, and are the only LEED certified nursery schools in the UAE. “Creating sustainable, healthy buildings is more about being clever with the design, understanding and working with the local vernacular architecture air infiltration and by utilising natural lighting where possible. It doesn’t need to be overly complicated,” said Jason Burnside, Managing Director at Godwin Austen Johnson. Completed in August 2022, the Ladybird Nursery is a single storey building with indoor and outdoor play areas. Each of the three age groups defined within the Ladybird Nursery has their own distinct area and all the spaces are accessed through the main reception for security and supervision. The school was designed with open classrooms and shared learning spaces to create an unrestrained and boundary-free environment using architectural features such as roof overhangs, deeper windows, and the overall orientation of the building for more passive sustainable design strategies, the firm added. Burnside added, “We employed a number of both active and passive measures to achieve LEED Gold status including the installation of high performance variable refrigerant flow (VRF) units which are highly energy efficient providing zoned comfort with precise temperature control. We also specified LED light fittings connected to light and PIR sensors.” Walls and adjoining facilities are kept to a minimum to encourage flow and avoid inhibitory barriers and additional innovative learning and social spaces have been created within the nooks and corners of the building. Small, coloured pods in the shape of small houses have been added as storage spaces, the statement concluded. |
