Project Name: Zayed National Museum

Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Design Team: Foster + Partners

Total Floor Area: 88,870 m²

Completion: 2025

Photography: Nigel Young

Feature:

Project - Located at the heart of the Saadiyat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi, the Zayed National Museum is the new national museum of the United Arab Emirates designed by Foster + Partners, tracing the history of the Emirates from the earliest evidence of human habitation to the civilizations that shaped its culture and identity, rooted in the values of the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The building's form addresses the challenge of sustaining life in a desert environment and the strong cultural traditions of the UAE.

The museum's five lightweight steel wings are part of the system of natural ventilation. Air vents open at the top of the towers, taking advantage of the negative pressure on the lee-side of the profile to draw hot air out from the atrium, assisted by the thermal effect of the heat build-up on the tips of the wings. Air that has been naturally cooled through pipes buried deep below the desert floor then flows into the atrium through a low-level ventilation system. The wings are glazed to channel natural light into the galleries below, and each one is individually tunable.

The museum spaces are located within a mound, which has textured, faceted panels that are an abstraction of the UAE's topography. The mound insulates the interior spaces from solar gain, forming a protective shield that prevents heat from entering the building. When visitors step inside the museum, they enter the light-filled atrium, or Al Liwan, which serves as both a meeting and orientation space, hosting performances such as traditional dance and poetry.

Of the six permanent galleries, four pod-shaped galleries are suspended above Al Liwan and provide controlled environments to protect the sensitive artifacts on display. The towers' triple-laminated glazing moderates the amount of daylight entering the lobby and the gallery spaces. The glazing includes a dense mesh interlayer, and each pod has a rooflight made of electrochromic glass that changes its transparency in response to outside light levels.

"Zayed National Museum tells the story of Sheikh Zayed's creation of the Emirates and the many facets of his legacy, including his vision of greening the desert. The building itself is an expression of sustainability, with five aerodynamic wings that are an integral part of the environmental system, acting as thermal chimneys and drawing cool air through the public spaces. They are also symbolic of Sheikh Zayed's love of the traditional sport of falconry and have become markers on the city skyline." Norman Foster | Founder and Executive Chairman, Foster + Partners

Each of the pod-shaped galleries is curated to reflect a specific theme, while the connecting nodal spaces provide contextual information that ties them together. Visitors can choose their own route through the different galleries and make their way to the upper level via a sculptural spiral staircase or lifts. At ground level, there are also two more permanent gallery spaces that are near the museum's entrances, as well as a temporary exhibition space, a fine dining restaurant, and a cafe.

Outside the museum building, Sheikh Zayed's love of nature is represented by the Al Masar Garden, which links the building to the coast. Integrating landscape and heritage, the garden is intended as a new community asset, with spaces for socializing, play, and reflection. Visitors are also invited to take a shaded route from ground level to a viewing platform at the top of the mound, at the base of the steel towers, which offers panoramic views of the surrounding area.

Materials have been carefully selected to resonate with the local surroundings and mirror historic buildings across the seven Emirates, which reflect the changing color of the sand in different locations. Building on this tradition, both the museum's exterior and its interior spaces mirror the distinctive warm-white shade of sand that is found on Saadiyat Island. The project has been delivered in close collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi.

Design Team - Foster + Partners, established in 1967 by Norman Foster, is a global studio for sustainable architecture, urbanism, engineering, and integrated design. Over five decades, the practice has evolved from Foster Associates into one of the world's most influential architectural firms, employing over 1,400 professionals across 13 international studios.

Under the leadership of Norman Foster, who serves as Founder and Executive Chairman, the practice operates through a distinctive partnership structure where all partners function as shareholders, maintaining collective responsibility for project delivery and design quality. The Design Board reviews every project at all development stages, reinforcing the collaborative approach and ensuring consistency with the practice's core design ethos.

The firm's methodology centers on integrated design, bringing together architectural teams with specialized divisions in structural and environmental engineering, sustainability consulting, urban planning, landscape architecture, industrial design, workplace strategy, and interior design. This multidisciplinary framework enables comprehensive exploration of design solutions from diverse perspectives, with projects advancing seamlessly from initial concept sketches through strategic design development to construction documentation and completion.

Foster + Partners' design philosophy, grounded in innovation and sustainability since its inception, reflects a commitment to learning from architectural precedent while addressing contemporary challenges through responsible design that demonstrably enhances the built environment and urban experience. The practice has garnered significant recognition for numerous iconic projects, including Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 1, HSBC Headquarters, the reconstructed Reichstag in Berlin, the Great Court at the British Museum, and Apple Park, demonstrating consistent excellence across diverse project scales and typologies.

The current design team is led by Norman Foster as Founder and Executive Chairman, with the partnership structure ensuring continuity of design philosophy while bringing innovative perspectives to contemporary architectural practice. The firm maintains strong academic and research connections, with internal technology and research teams driving architectural innovation while addressing design challenges across different geographical and cultural contexts through its global studio network. Foster + Partners' work consistently demonstrates sophisticated handling of environmental responsiveness, technological innovation, and site-specific conditions, with the Zayed National Museum project exemplifying these principles applied to extreme climate conditions.