The Museum of the Future Dubai officially opens

The Museum of the Future has officially opened in Dubai

A striking new addition to the city’s skyline, the museum is a cultural destination that symbolises both the heritage and future progress of Dubai. Its opening celebrates the creative thinkers and problem solvers who designed and constructed this award-winning project.

Working with Killa Design Architecture, our multidisciplinary team solved the project’s complex design challenges by optimising computational tools. Our engineers developed bespoke, in-house BIM software to model and analyse numerous options for the structure in order to achieve the museum’s iconic torus shape. 

By digitising the entire design and construction progress, the Buro Happold team were able to take the client’s and architect’s vision for the museum and turn it into a reality.

The development of a 3D energy model of the building also enabled the interaction of all 12 disciplines in real time. This ensured sustainability was put at the heart of over 50 design decisions. As a result, our sustainability consultants helped ensure a 45% reduction in water use and total energy savings of 25%. This helped the project move towards achieving LEED platinum status.

The project has seen the full digitisation of our design and construction teams, which became essential to deliver such a complex project. There have been challenges along the way, but it’s been an incredibly rewarding project to work on. When I drive to site in the mornings, I still can’t quite believe it looks the way it does, and that we’ve actually built it!

Tobias Bauly, Project Director, Buro Happold

From 23 February, the Museum of the Future will immersive theatre, themed attraction and exhibitions to members of the public.