Development of the Abu Dhabi Louvre gets closer

A high-powered delegation of French ministry officials, the country’s museums agency and national museums group as well as representatives from five of the top cultural institutions in France have visited the Abu Dhabi to progress the management strategy for the planned Louvre Abu Dhabi due to open in the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island.

The ten-strong delegation, which was accompanied by the French Ambassador to the UAE, Patrice Paoli, included officials from the French Cultural Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from the Musée du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, the CNAC Pompidou, Musée du Quai Branly and the National Library of France.

They held talks with senior officials of Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), which manages the tourism assets of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and which is behind the transformation of Saadiyat Island into a global residential, tourism and cultural hub.

“Our talks focused on the management strategy for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which will be among the first of Saadiyat’s international cultural institutions to take shape,” said Lee Tabler, CEO, TDIC.

The concept design for the Louvre Abu Dhabi has been carried out by award-winning French architect Jean Nouvel, who said, “The project will shortly be entering its design and engineering phase with the imminent appointment of an engineering consultant to work in collaboration with Jean Nouvel”.

Earlier this year the governments of Abu Dhabi and the Republic of France agreed an unprecedented 30-year cultural accord to create the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum on Saadiyat Island, which lies just 500 metres offshore Abu Dhabi city.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is one of several iconic museums and arts centres being planned for Saadiyat Island’s Cultural District, with others including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi modern and contemporary art museum, a Maritime Museum, the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, a performing arts centre and a Biennale Park with a host of museum clusters. Together it is claimed they make up the world’s largest cultural destination.

Saadiyat Island, which translates from Arabic as Island of Happiness, is the largest single mixed-use development in the Arabian Gulf.  The 27 square kilometre natural island, half the size of Bermuda, lies only 500 metres offshore Abu Dhabi island and is being developed into a complete visitor and residential destination.

Saadiyat Island represents one of the most important development opportunities in Abu Dhabi’s history, with the island, which has 30 kilometres of water frontage boasting many natural eco-features including mangrove forests, being developed as a strategic international tourism destination and marking a new era in the rapid evolution of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates which form the UAE Federation.

Saadiyat Island will be developed in three phases with total completion scheduled for 2018.

The masterplan envisages seven highly individual districts and includes 29 hotels, including an iconic 7-star property, three marinas with combined berths for around 1,000 boats, museums and cultural centres, two golf courses, civic and leisure facilities, sea-view apartments and elite villas.

Saadiyat Island is expected to be home to a community of more than 150,000 people, the same population size as Chang Mai in Thailand, Oxford in the UK or Hollywood in the US.

Saadiyat Island will be linked to the main Abu Dhabi island and the Abu Dhabi mainland via two, 10-lane freeways making the destination easily accessible to Abu Dhabi International Airport, which will be just a 25 kilometre drive away.

Saadiyat Island is being developed by the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), an independent public joint stock company of which Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority is the sole shareholder. TDIC’s strategy is to dispose of development land on the island to private investors who will each develop their sites in accordance with the masterplan and supporting planning regulations and design guidelines.

Report by The Mole