Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) has awarded UK engineering consultancy Buro Happold the engineering services contract for the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The French-inspired museum has been designed by 2008 Pritzker prize winner Jean Nouvel and is one of the five major premier cultural institutions planned for Saadiyat Island.
Buro Happold will now work with Jean Nouvel, under a co-operation agreement, on concept validation of the initial design and the schematic design of the museum that is due to open in 2012.
The company'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 of TDIC.
"With engineering design now underway, we are on course to break ground on this 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, which 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. Planning for the Louvre Abu Dhabi follows a 30-year cultural accord signed last year between the governments of Abu Dhabi and France.
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