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The New Qatar National Museum will be an iconic landmark on the coastline in Doha, already a stunning area of striking buildings. Designed by celebrated French architect, Jean Nouvel (their version of Sir Norman Foster!), it is intended to resemble the ‘Desert Rose’ – a tiny crystalline desert formation.
The entire structure currently under construction is being built around an existing palace. The very complex design comprises a series of interlocking curved discs of varying dimensions, which will form the roofs, walls and floors.
Each disc will be based on a structure formed in locally-sourced steel and concrete, then weathered in RBMs (Reinforced Bitumen Membranes) and then over-clad in glass-reinforced concrete. The specialist design is amongst the most complex that RAM Building Consultancy have ever seen, and the construction requirements of the client, Sheikha Moza (the Queen of Qatar) are very stringent.
RAM Building Consultancy were employed by one of the lead Engineering houses working on the project, Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants, to provide design-specific advice on both the best method of ensuring successful handover of the completed roofs – it is not obvious in these models, but there are 50,000 steel penetrations through the roofs, in a total area of 100,000m²! – and upon the future maintenance plan in relation to the roof performance.
The building itself will provide 86,000 square feet of permanent gallery space, 21,500 square feet of temporary gallery space, a 220-seat auditorium, a food forum, TV studio, two cafés, a restaurant and a museum shop. Staff facilities will include a heritage research center, restoration laboratories, staff offices, collection, processing and storage areas.
The museum will be surrounded by a 1.2 million square foot landscaped park, which interprets the Qatari desert landscape. The gardens are specifically designed to withstand the intense climate of Qatar, with palms, pomegranate trees and native grasses that all have low water consumption.
