Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre
The Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre is a cultural complex located in Kuwait City Kuwait, owned by the Amiri Diwan. It consists of six main components; The Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Space Museum, Arabic Islamic Science Museum, Fine Arts Centre and the external spaces known as the Public Realm. The Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre is a 18-hectare site making it the world's largest museum complex. The Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre was inaugurated in early 2018, it was the world's largest single-delivery museum project.
The Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre creates a new museum district within Kuwait. Together with the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre, the cultural centre is part of the new Kuwait National Cultural District.
The museums present Kuwaiti, Islamic, and Arab culture and history. They also embrace and showcase the rich diversity of the world's finest cultural achievements. The museum is named after the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah who was the 11th ruler of Kuwait, the first Amir and the founder of modern Kuwait.
Design
The project was administered by the Amiri Diwan who appointed Kuwaiti Architects SSH to design and engineer the building envelopes and components, which are connected through glazed wings and a canopy acting as the central spine of the cultural centre.Alghanim International, a local main contractor, were appointed as the builders, tasked with constructing the museum envelopes and undertaking the extensive sitewide landscaping. London-based Cultural Innovations developed the visitor experience design. Exhibits at the Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre cover history, science, space, art, and culture.
The project forms the major part of Kuwait's new national cultural district.
Museums
Natural History Museum
Making up eight of the galleries across the complex, the Natural History Museum covers themes including Prehistoric Life, Ecosystems, The Earth and Environment, Biodiversity, Nature, and Arabian Wildlife and Geography.Within the NHM galleries is a South East Asian rain forest with a combination of living trees and plants interspersed with faux, overlooking a 1.4 million liter aquarium stocked with live species. The 6m x 6m concave end retaining panel together with the side viewing panels weigh over 65 tons providing a full underwater panorama of the aquarium.
The Prehistoric Life gallery includes over 30 full size prehistoric creatures both skeletal and full bodied.
Each museum has a glass clad wing protruding from the end. The Prehistoric Life wing includes a 17-meter-long prehistoric whale suspended above four displays of giant beasts from the distant past.