Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre
KUWAIT CITY COMPLETED 2018
Greenway Associates worked as Cost Consultants on the famous and iconic Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre in joint partnership with Cultural Innovations and Beck Interiors. The Centre has been named one of the largest cultural complexes in the world, affording its guests the opportunity to embark on an enriching journey where curiosity meets enlightenment. It includes the Natural History Museum, Science and Technology Museum, Arabic Islamic Science Museum and Space Museum.
OUR ROLE
Greenway Associates began working on this project in 2013 as Cost Consultants, with Jared Mensah as the lead Quantity Surveyor. During the design stage, GA worked closely with Cultural Innovations at their London office to ensure that the design was kept within budget from Concept through to Procurement.
PROJECT DETAILS
The Natural History Museum - Visitors are able to lose themselves in a huge living ecosystem of lush rainforests, mangroves and coral reefs, see different species of live insects and an underwater world in a million litre tank aquarium. They can also trace the story of the earth from the Big Bang, through the age of the dinosaurs to the present day.
The Space Museum - Tells the story of human endeavour in pushing the boundaries of technology and human endurance to explore space and discover more about the universe. Visitors get involved in a range of activities and exhibits that bring them closer to life amongst the stars and planets from the Big Bang to our place in the solar system.
The Arabic Islamic Science Museum - An interactive, object-rich exploration of the part played by the 1000-year linguistic and cultural continuity of Islamic civilisation. It examines the people and innovations that played a crucial part in the development of intellectual thought that has influenced our world.
The Science & Technology Museum - Visitors will experiment with natural phenomena in the Experiment gallery, operate and programme robots in Discover Robots, build and test vehicles in transport or design and engineer their own inventions in the young people’s Maker Space. In the human body galleries, visitors will take a fascinating 4D ride through the workings of the human body.
PROJECT CHALLENGES
One significant challenge was that the project was split into multiple packages for the purpose of procurement. Our carefully prepared cost plans were used as a basis for defining the scope and values of the exhibition packages.
PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS
The International Property Awards has announced Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre as winner of the Best Public Service Architecture Arabia Awards in 2018. It received a further three international awards, as well as the prestigious ABB Leaf awards for Public Building of Year.
The Museum complex houses 23 galleries in over 22,000 square metres, presenting over 800 exhibits and experiences. The architecture of the center is striking, blending traditional Islamic design elements with modern aesthetics. Overall, the Centre is not just a place of learning but a testament to the boundless possibilities of human achievement.
THE DETAILS
Client: Amiri Diwan, Alghanim International and SSH International
Designers: Cultural Innovations
Architect: SSH Kuwait
Construction Manager: Beck Interiors
Cost Consultants: Greenway Associates