Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) has awarded UK’s Buro Happold the engineering services contract for the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The museum is one of the five major premier cultural institutions planned for Saadiyat Island which lies just offshore the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Louvre Abu Dhabi has been designed by 2008 Pritzker prize winner Jean Nouvel. TDIC is one of the leading tourism and cultural assets developers in Abu Dhabi.

Buro Happold will 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 2012.

Buro Happold’s scope of work covers a range of engineering disciplines including structural, civil, site traffic, marine and environmental, said a statement.

“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,” he said.

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 largest single concentration of premier cultural institutions including the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, a performing arts centre and a maritime museum. – TradeArabia News Service