Criteria Design Group has completed the designs of the Egyptian University in Al-Alamein, in cooperation with Kayan Human Development, in order to achieve the standards of environmental compatibility and sustainable development goals.
Mr. Khaled El-Feki, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kayan Human Development, said that the educational system in Egypt has witnessed unprecedented interest in line with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi instructions, in the belief of the political leadership in the need to push the human being, towards an Egyptian society that learns, thinks and innovates.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kayan Human Development explained that the selection of Criteria Design Group (CDG) for engineering consultant Eng Hisham Helal, came as a result of the various ideas and philosophy that it offers in the Egyptian market through creativity and providing innovative ideas while maintaining the shape of the building, in addition to achieving the environmental requirements of the building in line with the vision and plan of the state for sustainable development within the framework of the implementation of Green buildings, and have already succeeded in providing international creative designs that contribute to providing a suitable environment for students studying and residing in the city.
El-Feki pointed out that the project of the Egyptian University in Al-Alamein was issued by Presidential Decree No. 357 of 2022, on August 11, 2022, in theTal Al-Eis area, in the new city of Al-Alamein, Matrouh Governorate, to comprise 10 faculties, including (Medicine Group – Engineering – Business Administration – Science and Accounts) within the framework of the state’s orientation towards raising the level of higher education and scientific research, and its implementation is scheduled to be completed within 3 years.
He revealed that the university launched a fellowship program with the University of Malaya in Malaysia with the aim of providing scholarships to help students complete their basic study requirements, noting that the University of Malaya was ranked among the top 100 universities in the world in 65th place, 54th in the field of engineering and technology, and ninth in Asia.
For his part, Eng. Hisham Helal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Criteria Design Group, said that as architects, we realize the importance of the university educational period because it is the last opportunity for students before starting their practical and public lives, as we aim in this project to graduate a successful person culturally, morally, physically and socially by providing an enjoyable educational journey and qualifying him for a better future.
From his part, Eng Hisham Helal explained that the design concept of the Egyptian University in Al-Alamein resulted through the achievement of the design standards of Criteria, which are taking into account nature, culture and art, and these standards are keen to be achievedin every project.
Hilal revealed that the university’s design is based on a new contemporary vision that achieves harmony between the various axes of sustainable design – the social, environmental and economic axis – while adding deeper dimensions to the social axis by enhancing the interactive and social cultural aspect and enriching the skills that students will test to reach a design that achieves added value at the environmental, human and technical levels for the beneficiaries and the design of universities and society in general.
Also, the design of the Egyptian University project in El Alamein relied on the optimal exploitation of natural resources to reach different architectural solutions to realize the beauty of architectural design through coexistence in line with the students’ environment to be a complete project, pointing out that the university areas were distributed into four departments (education – culture – social – sports) He explained that the engineering designs of the project will contribute to saving energy consumption by about 45%, in addition to saving 20% of the total construction cost.
He explained that the educational zone is located deep in the project land to avoid street noise, and the cultural area is located on the main road to create an attractive image, and send a clear message about the university’s interests, and sports activities are located between the two previous areas to ensure their importance to healthy minds and the social area is central to linking all other axes and completing the building of the student’s personality.
He also explained that the project consists of 10 faculties and all of them are evenly distributed around a large interactive central courtyard oriented to the sea to maximize natural ventilation and light of the river, and to bring students from all different fields together to ensure the concept that all areas are equally important to our society.
The project is implemented on an area of 50 acres to include 10 colleges, the design of each college includes ground and three floors, its design respects the principles of sustainability, and there is a large airy indoor yard within each college to allow students to stay connected to the external environment, to increase daylight and natural ventilation across the building to reduce energy consumption in the building and reduce carbon dioxide emissions to a minimum.
Eng. Hisham Helal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Criteria Design Group, stressed that design in general is sustainable and provided with new and different thinking worthy of the direction of the new republic and the city of Al-Alamein and a competitor at the global level.
