Special School for
Hearing-Impaired Students

Building for Inclusion
in Marka, Amman

The Special School for Hearing-Impaired Students in Marka was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to provide a dedicated, purpose-designed learning environment for students with hearing impairments. CEC was engaged as the main construction contractor for the facility — a project that required the company's structural and civil engineering teams to work hand-in-hand with specialist accessibility designers to translate inclusive-education principles into built form.

Schools for hearing-impaired students differ fundamentally from conventional school buildings. Where a typical classroom design prioritizes acoustic separation incidentally, a school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students must be designed around visual communication as the primary mode of instruction — sightlines between teacher and every student, unobstructed views across classrooms, glazed partitions that allow visual supervision between spaces, and lighting designed to support lip-reading and sign-language visibility without glare or harsh shadows.

CEC's role on this project reflects the company's broader commitment to social-impact construction in Jordan. Beyond the technical delivery of structure, finishes, and services, the Marka school represents an investment in equitable access to education for a community of students who depend on a built environment specifically engineered to support their communication needs. The completed school now serves as a model facility within the Ministry of Education's special-needs school network.

Engineering Challenges

Constructing a school built around the specific needs of hearing-impaired students introduced design and construction requirements rarely encountered on standard school projects:

• Visual alarm and notification systems: Conventional audible fire alarms are insufficient for a hearing-impaired population. CEC coordinated the installation of a campus-wide visual alerting system — strobe beacons and visual display panels integrated throughout corridors, classrooms, and common areas — alongside the standard audible fire detection system.
• Acoustic treatment for residual hearing: Many students retain partial hearing and rely on hearing aids or cochlear implants, which amplify background noise. Classrooms required acoustic ceiling and wall treatments to minimize reverberation and HVAC noise that would otherwise interfere with assistive listening devices.
• Sightline-optimized classroom geometry: Classroom layouts were designed with shallower depths and wider sightlines than conventional classrooms, ensuring every student has an unobstructed view of the teacher, interpreter, and visual aids — informing the structural grid and window placement.
• Glazed internal partitions: Corridors and shared spaces incorporated glazed partition walls to maintain visual connectivity between rooms for supervision and communication, requiring careful detailing to meet both safety glazing standards and acoustic separation requirements.

Scope of Work

CEC's construction scope on the Marka school covered the full structural and civil works package: foundations and reinforced concrete superstructure for the classroom blocks and administration building; installation of the visual fire-alarm and notification infrastructure in coordination with specialist systems suppliers; acoustic ceiling, wall, and door treatments throughout teaching spaces; glazed partition installation; accessible circulation routes, ramps, and outdoor play areas designed for safe use by students with sensory considerations; and full external works including boundary treatment, landscaping, and utility connections.

Quality & Safety

Quality assurance on the Marka school placed particular emphasis on the accessibility and life-safety systems that define the building's purpose. Visual alarm devices were tested for coverage and luminance across every occupied space, acoustic performance of classroom enclosures was verified against the design specification, and all glazing was confirmed to meet safety standards for high-occupancy educational use. CEC's site safety procedures during construction also accounted for the building's eventual occupants, with particular attention paid to smooth, trip-free floor transitions and rounded detailing at circulation pinch points.