The Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island was designed by Jean Nouvel, selected in 2006, with BuroHappold as engineer. The Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism owns it, and TDIC managed construction. Work began on May 26, 2009, and the final canopy element was fitted in September 2014. It was inaugurated on November 8, 2017 and opened to the public three days later.
A seemingly floating dome of 7,850 aluminium stars in eight perforated layers filters light like palm fronds. Four concrete pillars carry the roughly 7,000-tonne dome. The complex has 55 buildings, 23 of them galleries, on about 258,000 square feet (24,000 m²), with tidal pools inside the galleries.
The opening slipped from 2012 to 2015 and then 2017. The name license runs to 2047 per the lead, though the body first cites 2037 and says it was extended in 2023. Listed payments total €855 million, while a French Senate report estimated €974.5 million.
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