Flanked by open water on three sides, and with a basement 10 metres below sea level the Louvre Abu Dhabi’ has represented a unique challenge to the team charged with creating the museum.
Throughout the 7 year process to build the new museum on Saadiyat island, keeping the waters of the Arabian Gulf at bay has been a constant issue, especially with dampness being so detrimental to the storage of often delicate works of art.
Bot now the sea is being welcomed back according to The National, with the enroaching waters working on the existing structure to create “an archipelago filled with the delicate movement of water and reflected light”.
Brian Cole, director with consultants BuroHappold Engineering said, “This project combines one of the most aggressive external environments – seawater – and one of the most stringent requirements for dryness. Art storage is probably one of the most highly controlled internal environments, so we needed the highest degree of watertightness.”
https://www.thenational.ae/uae/tourism/louvre-abu-dhabi/20161116/the-tide-turns-at-louvre-abu-dhabi-as-the-sea-becomes-museums-first-attraction