03 June 2008
Dubai: Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), one of Abu Dhabi's leading tourism and cultural assets developers, has awarded UK engineering consultancy Buro Happold the engineering services contract for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which has been designed by 2008 Pritzker prize winner Jean Nouvel.
The museum is one of five major premier cultural institutions planned for Saadiyat Island which lies just offshore the capital of the UAE.
Buro Happold will now work with Jean Nouvel under a co-operation agreement on concept validation of the initial design and on the schematic design of the museum, which is due to open in 20012.
Buro Happold's scope of work covers a range of engineering disciplines including structural, civil, site traffic, marine and environmental.
"Buro Happold was selected because of its holistic approach to engineering, its track record as an environmentally responsible and responsive organisation and its appreciation of the project's standing within the social, architectural and aesthetics fields," said Lee Tabler, CEO, TDIC.
"With engineering design now under way we are on course to break ground on this truly iconic structure in the first quarter of next year."
The Louvre Abu Dhabi will be built in the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island - a natural island which is being transformed by TDIC into a signature leisure, cultural and residential destination.
The Cultural District will comprise the world's larg-est single concentration of premier cultural institutions including the Shaikh Zayed National Museum, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, a performing arts centre and a maritime museum.
Planning for the Louvre Abu Dhabi follows a 30-year cultural accord sealed last year between the governments of Abu Dhabi and France.
Concept designs for all the Cultural District assets, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi, are currently on show in a public exhibition which is open daily in the Emirates Palace Hotel.
By Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
