American University of Sharjah

The American University of Sharjah (AUS) is recognised as one of the region's leading universities for sustainability, with a strong commitment to integrating sustainability across its academics, research, and campus operations. To support its growing campus, the university commissioned the Campus Service Centre, Wellness Centre, and Youth Centre, delivering over 8,000m² of operational, sports, wellbeing, and recreation facilities. Cundall was appointed as lead consultant and project manager, providing the full design and consultancy service.

Our team used the LEED framework to guide the design, helping the university achieve its sustainability ambitions while maximising investment in environmental performance. A micro-district cooling scheme serving approximately 50% of the campus was developed to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Sustainability strategies also included detailed façade and envelope analysis to optimise energy consumption and daylight penetration, occupancy sensing and daylight dimming for artificial lighting systems, and solar hot water heating. Together, these measures reduced energy and water consumption while improving indoor environmental quality (IEQ) for campus users.

Richard Stratton, Partner and Managing Director EMENA commented: "The greatest measure of success was the client's experience. Hearing that the office only required air conditioning for approximately two hours on the hottest summer days demonstrated the effectiveness of our facade design."