First gallery completed at Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Louvre Abu Dhabi has reached a significant milestone with completion of the construction of the museum's first gallery.

Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), master developer of the museum, said the gallery was one of the largest within the permanent galleries and comes a year after work on the project began.

A TDIC statement issued today (Monday 17th March) explains "with a transparent glass roof that allows natural light, visitors of Louvre Abu Dhabi will feel the 'rain of light' effect across most of its galleries, which comes as a result of the interlaced steel cladding dome of the museum."

The statement added that work was well underway for construction of the museum's interior walls, along with the installation of mechanical plant, water pipes, electrical cabling and security systems.

With more than 5,300 workers on site and around 117,000 cubic metres of concrete poured so far, the construction work on the galleries was progressing in parallel with the installation of the museum's prominent dome featuring 85 steel segments that weigh between 30 to 70 tonnes each.

To date, 20% of the dome's structure has been put in place, with the completion of the full structural steel frame set for September 2014.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is expected to be completed by late 2015.

Commenting on the progress of the museum, TDIC Deputy Managing Director Ali Al Hammadi stated "we're happy with where we are today. To date, more than 10 million man hours have been dedicated to Louvre Abu Dhabi reflecting the amount of foundation work that the museum requires.

"Despite the challenging and complicated design, construction on the ground has been progressing steadily and on schedule. Over the course of one year, we've moved from construction at seven metres deep to above ground construction of the galleries."

Designed by Pritzker-Prize winning architect Jean Nouvel, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will encompass 9,200 metres2 of art galleries.

It is set to be one of the premier cultural institutions located in the heart of the Saadiyat Cultural District, along with the Zayed National Museum, which will open in 2016, and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which will open in 2017.

For more information go to http://louvreabudhabi.ae/en/Pages/home.aspx

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