• Case Studies

Dating back to its foundation in Dubai 1959, GEMS Education has become one of the world’s largest K-12 private education providers. With more than 200,000 students from more than 170 nationalities, GEMS operates a network of schools offering curricula including British, American, and Indian systems. A particular focus for GEMS has been technology-driven learning in the Middle East, ensuring that each campus provides a futureproof education.

GEMS School of Research and Innovation (GEMS SRI) is the latest embodiment of this vision. It’s a purpose-built campus in Dubai Sports City, spanning more than 47,000 sq m. GEMS SRI integrates modern architectural design, immersive digital environments, and researchbased pedagogy. The project encompasses 20 specialised zones, integrating projection, LED, networked audio, control, and lighting systems, each tailored to enhance engagement and creativity.

Kampus AV, a UK consultant, was engaged early on to design what the spaces would look like within GEMS.

Having worked with GEMS on several projects previously, Dubai-based system integrator Granteq was then brought on board “because the client was looking for a company that could do design and build, while also playing that design consultancy role as well,” explains Neeraj Sajnani, director business development, Granteq. “The technology wasn’t defined, so our role was to go through each and every space and there were a lot of spaces because it’s such a big and unique school.” As Sajnani points out, it's a school for research and innovation: “It had to be different and they wanted to build an infrastructure that could last for a very long time and also would get children more involved in different aspects of AI, sports, performing arts. It wasn’t just a standard curriculum with books and traditional materials. They wanted a full 360-degree view of education.”

Approval for the $4m (€3.4m) school was passed by the Knowledge of Human and Development Authority in Dubai in December 2024, with the school slated to open in August 2025, giving Granteq just nine months to work in the midst of the building phase. The scope of Granteq’s work in such a short time is impressive, it includes digital signage, projection mapping, and an auditorium space featuring an LED wall. The intention to go beyond the norm was there from the beginning and stayed throughout says Sajnani.

“Any time somebody suggested ‘we can do this in a way that’s easier or cheaper,’ the client said, ‘no, we want to break boundaries and really push it. We want the most unique solutions here.’ So the infrastructure was developed with that concept in mind.” Granteq’s engineering and design methodology focused on ‘Innovating Human Interactions’, ensuring technology enhances rather than distracts from learning.

Highlights of this vast project included immersive projection and LED, blended projectors and custom curved LED walls. GEMS SRI features a host of interactive digital surfaces, where radar-based touch systems and multi-zone LED floors have been installed to respond to motion and interaction, enhancing experiential learning. A campus-wide Dante audio network ensures low-latency routing between auditoriums, recording studios, and classrooms, with unified DSP processing for clarity and acoustic control. Crestron control processors and iPad interfaces enable simplified user operation, linking projectors, LED displays, amplifiers, lighting, and network switches under a single interface.

The performing arts and production facilities include a professional-grade auditorium equipped with hybrid video conferencing, PTZ cameras, and IR-based assistive listening systems. A dedicated recording and podcast studio are interconnected with the black box theatre through SDI and EtherCON infrastructure for real-time media production.

The STEM and innovation labs are where the AV really gets to shine. Featuring an immersive curved LED and interactive displays to enable collaborative experimentation. Each system is designed for modular scalability to accommodate emerging educational technologies. Moving into specific areas of GEMS SRI, visitors will be met in the main entrance foyer by five architectural LED columns (1m x (9m each) and an interactive floor LED display (5m x 5m), setting the scene for the technology to come.

The Reading Lounge immersive projection and control system uses 13 Epson laser projectors with Modulo Pi media servers to deliver blended wall-to-floor storytelling environments with full audio coverage. The Primary Innovation/STEM Lab features a stunning curved, high-resolution LED display (13.7m in diameter and 2.5m high), with radar-based touch interactivity, immersive audio and Crestron-based central control.

The Library and Achievement Zone feature dual-format LED displays, 11m portrait walls and 2m overhead LED strips that provide digital signage and real-time achievement displays. Inside the Senior Lounge, students and teachers can benefit from a hybrid presentation setup with motorised 120-in projection screen, laser projector, and two-speaker audio system for presentations and collaborative sessions. The Primary Library features a 5.1 surround sound system with streaming and wireless connectivity, centralised processor, and iPad-based control interface.

The FS Innovation/Play Area has a fully interactive LED floor (3.5m x 4.5m) and three LED wall surfaces (1.5mm pixel pitch) with motion sensors and mirror-display integration for creative learning. The FS Reception features dual-portrait LED walls (1.5m x 2.5m) for content to welcome guests. Sports Hall 2 includes a large (6m x 4m) LED scoreboard display integrated with Bodet scoring interface, 4K HDMI switching, and a distributed line array audio system with DSP and wireless microphones.

The Auditorium comes with a complete AV, control, and lighting system, featuring 4K hybrid matrix switching, PTZ cameras, Dante-based digital audio, IR assistive listening, motorised lighting truss with moving heads, and Crestron central control. All audio in the Auditorium is provided by d&b amps and speakers. Inside the Filming Studio students can take advantage of the latest virtual production equipment, with a large 11m x 2.5m LED volume wall, with high-resolution 1.57mm pixel pitch on which to film professional content. It is linked to the control room via SDI and EtherCON network.

The Black Box Theatre and Control Room includes integrated projection, lighting, and audio systems connected through facility panels and conduits, enabling live performance capture and broadcast. Music Rooms, Vocal Booths and Recording Studios include cabling, data, and audio interconnectivity (EtherCON, XLR, binding posts) allowing live recording and monitoring across multiple rooms.

The Outdoor Sports and Swimming Pool Zones also feature the latest AV technology, including weatherproof LED scoreboards and IP66 audio systems with modular line arrays, wireless microphones, and Dante control bridging. The Dining Area does not miss out either, it features a transparent LED wall. The technology is undoubtedly impressive, but Granteq is keen to stress this is not technology for technology’s sake. It has been designed and installed to help students experience the power of immersive learning that help transform passive observation into active participation. Teachers can simultaneous benefit for other reasons, the technology can help them conduct lessons that blend real-world simulation, virtual collaboration, and multimedia storytelling.

For example, the immersive reading lounge is a space where literature and imagination merge through audio and visuals. The STEM lab’s curved LED and touch system is another example, it has been designed to promote teamwork, coding, and creative problem solving. The auditorium and black box theatre doubles as training grounds for performance, presentation, and production skills. And the recording and podcast studios are there to help the students create and broadcast original content, while picking up communication and broadcast skills. All very marketable skills once they leave the school and enter the modern workplace.

What were the most difficult parts of this installation for Granteq? It was the timeline says Sajnani: “Everyone had to get things together at the same time, the contractors, the IT, the networks needed to be ready so we could do our stuff.” To make sure everything being installed at GEMS SRI was fit for purpose, Granteq involved stakeholders for the critical spaces, such as the auditorium and the TV studio. “For other spaces the GEMS infrastructure team was involved in the process, because they’d worked on so many schools and know most of the technologies and their benefits,” adds Sajnani.

Did the client budget influence the technology in any way? Did Granteq have to make any compromises along the line? “They didn't want to compromise on anything, but they got everyone involved [in getting the best prices] because everyone knew that this is a very unique school and a unique project and everyone put their best foot forward here. But there was no compromise on technology at all,” says Sajnani. Aligned with GEMS Education’s commitment to sustainability, every aspect of the project was designed to support ESG objectives. All systems were selected for energy efficiency and longevity, including laser projection, LED lighting, and IP-based AV networks.

Consideration was also given extending the lifecycle of products installed and reducing e-waste, through the choices of modular LED panels, solid-state light engines, and IP-based components. To aid inclusive learning, assistive listening systems and intuitive control interfaces ensure accessibility and equal participation for all students.

Moving forward, GEMS SRI has hired a team to manage the spaces on a day-to-day basis, trained by Granteq, which is also providing remote monitoring. The client is understandably delighted with the results. “The outcome aligned perfectly with the school’s vision for innovation and technology-driven learning, as well as GEMS Education’s design brief. I appreciate the dedication and collaborative spirit shown by the Granteq team and I congratulate them for a commendable job of AV system integration and contribution to supporting an effective learning environment at GEMS SRI,” says Furqan Ullah Khan, senior manager, MEP and sustainability, GEMS Education, Dubai.

TECH-SPEC

Audio
Allen & Heath digital mixer
Audac ceiling speakers
BSS Audio Dante/AES67 to BLU link Bridge
Bose line array speakers, 4-channel amplifiers
d&b loudspeakers, amplifiers
Dolby Atmos cinema processor
Extron DSP, 4K/60 HDMI audio de-embedder
Fohhn USB audio interface
Lea Professional amplifiers
QSC ceiling speakers, DSP, control processors
Shure microphones, receivers, antennas
WilliamsAV assistive listening system

Video
Absen 1.5mm LED displays and controllers
Aver PTZ231 PTZ cameras
Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro live stream switchers, SDI to HDMI converters
BrightSIgn digital signage players
Crestron touchscreens, RMC4 controllers, CP4N control engine
Digibird LED processors
Epson 6K, 7K laser projectors
Extron HDMI switchers, DTP receivers
Hikvision indoor 1.5mm and 2.6mm LED tiles, 3.9mm and 6.6mm outdoor LED tiles
KeyDigital extenders, switchers
LG 75-in displays
Lightware switchers, extenders, receivers
Novo indoor 1.5mm LED tiles
Modulo Pi media servers
Netgear network switches
Nova 1.5mm LED tiles
NovaStar VX16S LED processors
OptiGlobal 2.5mm LED tiles
QSC CORE 110f-v2 processor

Lighting
Avolites lighting consoles
Chauvet fixtures
Lightshark fixtures
Prolyte fixtures
VegaPro stage lighting