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After 30 million man hours, the work is finally done. The last piece of outer cladding on Louvre Abu Dhabi's dome was finished on Sunday. The seven-tonne dome with a diameter of 180 metres is the future museum's architectural masterpiece.
Placing the last piece of outer cladding on the dome was significant enough to attract the presence of Louvre Abu Dhabi's Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, as well as the museum developer Tourism Development and Investment Company's (TDIC) chairman, Ali Majed Al Mansoori and Sufian Hasan Al Marzooqi, CEO of TDIC.
"We are very proud of the progress that has been achieved on the site of the Louvre Abu Dhabi today, and it is remarkable to see Jean Nouvel's design come to life. Almost a year and a half ago the construction team was placing the first super-sized element of the dome structure, and today we are completing the outer dome cladding," said Al Mansoori.
The Louvre's dome is made of eight layers of cladding, four outer and four inner, with the dome's structure in between. All these layers consist of 7,850 star-shaped pieces of aluminium and stainless steel, of various sizes and angles, the largest of which measures 13 metres in diameter and weighs 1.3 tonnes.
The outer cladding consists of 4,481 stars which is now 100 per cent complete and installed.
Once completed, the museum will feature permanent galleries, a temporary gallery, a children's gallery and an auditorium.
Louvre Abu Dhabi is expected to be completed this December, being the first museum built on Saadiyat island, to be followed in the coming years by Guggenheim and Zayed National museums.
Over the past few years, the museum's curators have purchased over 500 artworks and secured 300 artworks on loan from major museums in France.
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