The Louvre Abu Dhabi will be handed over by the middle of the year, officials said, as the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was given a tour of the under-construction museum.
Construction works already completed include the museum’s “rain of light” dome, as envisioned by architect Jean Nouvel, and the installation of 30,000 square metres of natural stone paving.
Sarkozy was given a tour of the site by Ali Majed Al Mansoori, chairman of the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), and Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak, head of the Tourism & Culture Authority.
“We are also pleased to observe that the museum’s construction continues to be on track, and we expect to handover the building in mid-2016,” said Al Mansoori.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi construction contract was awarded to an Arabtec-led joint venture with Constructora San Jose and Oger Abu Dhabi in 2013.
Once completed, the museum will feature 9,200 square metres of display space.