There is an urgent need for educational opportunities and facilities in Syrian refugees host countries, in this case Lebanon. Some present educational facilities represent poor learning environments like poor lighting conditions that have a negative impact on the learning environment; the lack of proper ventilation which increases the CO2 emission in classrooms drastically therefore resulting in drowsiness, eye irritation and inability to concentrate; and lack of sound insulation caused by the division of classrooms using fabric and cardboard boxes.

The challenge was to create a prototype that first represents good learning conditions: visual comfort, air comfort, thermal comfort and acoustic comfort; Second is environmental friendly: using local materials, small footprint and low energy; Third is sustainable: the building materials are locally sourced, can be reused and re-located (temporary), low cost and the prototype constructed by the local community.

The American University of Beirut-University Research Board (URB) supported the research phase of the project. The climate engineering company Transsolar Klimaengineering provided consultancy as well as funding support to the implementation of the prototype. Najjar Najjar Architects designed the prototype as well as managed, coordinated, and supervised the construction process.