Abu Dhabi to open Natural History Museum in 2025

Officials in Abu Dhabi have confirmed that the Natural History Museum will open in the capital of the UAE. The museum, currently under construction, is due to be completed at the end of 2025 and is located in the emirate’s Saadiyat Cultural District.

On Wednesday, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, Member of Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, launched the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi project, according to state news agency WAM.

The new museum, which will reportedly be the largest of its kind in the region and will take visitors on a 13.8 billion-year journey with thought-provoking perspective into a sustainable future for planet Earth.

Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed has launched the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi project – a new museum and scientific research centre that will tell the story of natural history spanning 13.8 billion years and help find solutions for the future of our planet. pic.twitter.com/6KT8oNjt52

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A highlight of the new museum’s collection will be Stan, a mostly complete 39-foot-long (11.7 metres) Tyrannosaurus rex, which is one of the best preserved and most studied fossils of this iconic predator from the Late Cretaceous Period.

Stan will now be located at the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, and the 67-million-year-old dinosaur will be made available for scientific research.

In addition to Stan, there will be an extraordinary Murchison Meteorite specimen, which crash-landed in Australia more than 40 years ago and has since revealed to scientists new information about the early solar system. Containing a huge range of organic stardust compounds as well as pre-solar grains which formed over seven billion years ago, the meteorite provides insight into the building blocks of life.

The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi is to make ‘Stan’ the T. rex skeleton available for scientific research, both in the run-up to the museum’s completion and after its opening. pic.twitter.com/azJVFXjmfN

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Conceived and developed by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) in partnership with Miral, the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi covers an area of over 35,000 sqm with Mecanoo serving as the lead architects on the project.

In addition to global natural history, the museum will for the first time showcase the history of life on Earth through an Arabian lens, where local natural assets of fauna, flora and the geological history of the region will be on display.

Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed launches the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi project, which will showcase some of the rarest natural specimens ever found and take visitors on a 13.8 billion-year natural history journey through earth and space. pic.twitter.com/zZaAXSDzwh

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Within the museum, a scientific research facility will undertake studies in areas including zoology, palaeontology, marine biology, molecular research (aDNA and proteomics), and earth sciences.

When complete, the new Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi will show some of rarest natural history specimens ever found, including ‘Stan’, a 67 million year-old T. rex skeleton and the 7 billion year-old Murchison Meteorite, which reveals information about the early solar system. pic.twitter.com/VK20TD1P9Q

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In addition to the gallery display areas, the museum will include temporary exhibition spaces for special events and theatre facilities.

“Natural history has a new home in Abu Dhabi. A new museum which tells the story of our universe through some of the most incredible natural wonders known to mankind. These are awe-inspiring gifts from nature that we are proud to share with the world – unlocking millions of years of knowledge to not only advance scientific discovery but to inspire our children to protect our planet’s future,” said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi.

The Saadiyat Cultural District, where the upcoming museum will be located, is already home to Louvre Abu Dhabi, and will soon include the Zayed National Museum; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; and the Abrahamic Family House, which will comprise three religious spaces in one place – a mosque, a synagogue and a church.

Read: Construction on Guggenheim Abu Dhabi to be completed by 2025