Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first museum to be built at the Saadiyat Cultural District in the UAE capital, witnessed a key construction milestone when the final piece of outer cladding for the museum’s iconic dome was put in place.

The installation of the outer cladding comes after more than 30 million man hours on site.

This piece is part of the dome’s pattern, which is made up of eight layers of cladding – four outer and four inner –with the dome’s structure in between. 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 m in diameter and weighs 1.3 tonnes.

The outer cladding consists of 4,481 stars which is now 100 per cent complete and installed. Major work is expected to start in the next few months including laying the stone flooring of the museum, installation of the display cases for the galleries, and the completion of the museum’s administration building.

This milestone was witnessed by Ali Majed Al Mansoori chairman of the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), a master developer of major tourism destinations in Abu Dhabi, and the museum’s architect Jean Nouvel as well as TDIC’s chief executive officer Sufian Hasan Al Marzooqi.

“We are very proud of the progress that has been achieved on the site of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and it is remarkable to see Jean Nouvel’s design come to life,” said Al Mansoori. “Almost a year-and-a-half ago the construction team was placing the first super-sized element of the dome structure, and now we are completing the outer dome cladding. This is testament to the advanced techniques used to execute one of the museum’s most challenging architectural features.”

Once completed, Louvre Abu Dhabi will feature  permanent galleries, a temporary gallery, a children’s museum and an auditorium.