Saadiyat brings culture, atmosphere and noise to Abu Dhabi

Five enormous skeletons tower over the vaulting entrance hall: a brachiosaurus, a camarasaurus, two diplodocus and a barosaurus. This, apparently, is a herd of sauropods.

Elsewhere, a video panorama reveals the changes in Abu Dhabi’s environment over millennia. The arid desert bordering the Arabian Gulf took hold and replaced lush savannah only 2,700 years ago. Will it change again, one wonders? If so, when?

Further inside, a darkened hall houses the fossil skeleton of the diminutive Lucy, discovered in Ethiopia in the 1970s. She is the earliest human ancestor so far discovered who, more than 3 million years ago, walked upright.

Welcome to Abu Dhabi’s Natural History Museum, home of Lucy, the sauropods and much more in the cultural district of Saadiyat Island. The building, designed by the Dutch architecture practice Mecanoo, and the nearby Zayed National Museum, complete with five towers shaped like birds’ wings by Foster + Partners, were only launched in December.

But the openings – after a delay of more than a decade – mean the UAE capital can now lay claim to a status as a world-class cultural destination in line with its huge oil-infused wealth.

Over the years, Dubai has perfected the art of drawing tourists to its luxe hotels and celebrity restaurants. Abu Dhabi is concentrating on cultural tourism via its museums and family-friendly offerings at nearby Yas Island in the form of Formula 1 and a forthcoming Disneyland.

On Saadiyat, the two new museums join the admired Louvre Abu Dhabi by Jean Nouvel and a soon-to-open Guggenheim by Frank Gehry. The first houses traditional art – and a turtle sanctuary – while the second will host a more modern collection.

The landmarks sit near teamLab Phenomena, a Japanese-influenced gallery, and the Abrahamic Family House, a starkly beautiful complex combining a mosque, a synagogue and a church by the Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye.

The museums “have made a huge difference to the positioning of Abu Dhabi”, says Jonathan Emery, CEO of Aldar, the state-backed developer that has planned the district. Aldar is now offering residential elements alongside the high-profile structures. Currently home to only a few hundred people, the intention is that it will in time house thousands.

The major buildings, it has to be said, are wonderful. And Abu Dhabi could do with it. The car-bound city, built quickly in the early 1970s, has the air of the hygienic and perfunctory. Atmospheric it is not.

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The cultural district on Saadiyat is intended to be different. Emery says just under half the masterplan has been shared and another major project announcement is to be expected soon – although this falls within the purview of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism.

The idea is that the district is walkable and embraces active sports. High-end restaurants, hotels and shopping options are in the works. A music school will open while an offshore maritime wildlife sanctuary protects species of turtles, dolphins and dugongs.

Quite how the walkability option will bear up in the long summer months remains to be seen. But the intention is welcome.

Investors “know about the museums but they don’t know about the lifestyle on offer”, Emery says of the large-scale project now coming out in the open. “The noise is going to get louder.”