Location: Amman, Jordan.

Architect: Maisam Architects & Engineers.

The Ahliyyah School for Girls and The Bishop School for Boys are two well-known and respected schools in Amman, with a rich history and strong local identity. When designing their new united school campus, it was important to maintain these values and memories. The design approach taken aimed to create a school that could adapt to the changing nature of education, while still embodying the schools’ values in a contemporary architectural manner. The design proposal weaves the identities of the four school year programmes together in a sophisticated approach, creating a distinct character for the school. The school is divided into precincts, each adjacent to the other within an interactive park, offering a creative and flexible layer that is open to the new world of education. The design proposal aims to create a sense of openness and instil creativity and innovation in the students. The resulting school model represents three main elements: the pillars as beacons of light and symbols of values, the incubators of knowledge as the elevated pods, and the anchors of legacy that are embedded and rooted within the mountain. The learning pods are lifted, leaving a park level scattered with transparent creative functions, allowing the pods on the hill to become anchored into the ground as if overlooking the park and representing community. The resulting school is an extroverted school with an outlook into the future of education, a place that would act as a second home for the students.