With over 95% of construction completed, Bahrain’s first purpose-built American-style campus will soon be home to the new American University of Bahrain (AUBH). The University’s main structures have been completed and the internal furnishings are currently being installed. The University will be ready for full handover in early August. The brand new, state-of-the-art campus mirrors those found in the best American universities and is designed to foster interaction and collaboration among students, faculty and the community.

The AUBH campus is located in Riffa, with easy access from two main highways and conveniently located near many restaurants and stores. Built on a 75,000 square meter plot of land with building structures totalling approximately 21,500 square meters, the campus was designed by US-based global master-planners and architects Ayers Saint Gross (ASG). ASG is globally renowned for designing many prominent US university campuses with a student-centric focus.

The campus buildings form a welcoming, aesthetically pleasing, and open design that encourages interaction and recreation. Its innovative and ergonomic design complements the magnificent and sweeping structures to enhance the learning and social experience for the student and faculty communities alike. Water designs adorn the campus’s landscape, creating a learning oasis with lush green colors in the middle of the desert.

The modern-structured buildings include a Welcome Center for Administration and Student Services, an “Academic Quad” with four dedicated three-story academic buildings, one for each College.  The campus also boasts a Sports Center with a full gym and basketball court, an outdoor Football Field, and a Student Commons where students will enjoy social time outside of the classroom.  The academic buildings house fully-equipped interdisciplinary labs and studios, high-tech lecture halls and classrooms, seminar and case study rooms, an extensive and innovative library, and a grand auditorium built for over 250 visitors.  

Dr. Susan E. Saxton, Founding President of AUBH expressed her pleasure with achieving this milestone, “We are excited to see our beautiful campus come to life and to welcome the inaugural class of 2019 in September. The AUBH campus is unique in so many ways; we want to bring a truly American-style experience to the region and establish a model of international quality standards that will support the students’ life-long educational journey.”

“AUBH was created to support the Kingdom’s efforts in upscaling the country’s academic quality and advancing its status as an educational role model for the Arab region; in this regard, we designed a campus that would support educational excellence and assist students in excelling to great heights in their chosen profession,” she added.

Senior Associate at Ayers Saint Gross Architectural Firm, Michelle Moseley, said, “It give us great pleasure to work on this first-of-a-kind university in the Kingdom of Bahrain and bring the American-style campus to life. Inspired by the culture of the region, our aim was to create an environment that would enhance the student experience and create a space for students, faculty and staff to connect.”

Environment and sustainability played a major role in the campus design. The physical layout of the campus was taken into consideration to reduce energy consumption and respond to local environmental conditions. Green spaces are a very prominent feature across the campus with over 400 trees with 12 different species, to provide a variety of colors and textures. In addition, over 9,000 square meters of shrubs, groundcover and grass will be planted on the University premises.