Al Ghadeer International School
An unfinished educational complex in Riyadh, reborn through adaptive reuse — an IB continuum campus organized around Learning Communities and anchored by the suspended Spark of Genius Hall.
A working environment for learners — at the scale of a small district.
An unfinished complex, reborn as a future-ready campus.
Al Ghadeer International School transforms an unfinished, underutilized educational complex into a future-ready IB continuum campus for 1,500 students from Nursery through Grade 12. Education Design International led the work — from educational visioning and concept design through schematic design, design development, and construction drawings — for developer Al Ghadeer (AGIS). Rather than demolish and rebuild, the design reuses the existing structural framework, making the campus markedly more sustainable and cost-effective.
The campus is organized into age-appropriate Learning Communities supporting the IB Primary Years, Middle Years, and Diploma Programmes, with flexible environments tuned to different ages and learning styles. Specialized spaces — robotics labs, VR/AR suites, makerspaces, advanced science labs, recording studios, and black-box theaters — support project-based, interdisciplinary, future-focused learning, all aligned with Al Ghadeer International School’s ‘Spark of Genius’ philosophy.
At its center is the Spark of Genius Hall, a suspended landmark space in the courtyard that serves as the school’s symbolic and social heart. Outdoor learning, rooftop recreation, landscaped courtyards, and a climate-responsive façade drawn from regional Mashrabiya patterns give the campus a calm, human-centered character within Riyadh’s dense urban setting.
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