23 November 2010 – Official opening of the Masdar Institute campus, first solar powered building at Masdar City

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs officially inaugurated the Masdar Institute today, at which the architect Lord Foster was present. The Masdar Institute, devoted to researching sustainability, is the first building to be fully operational within Masdar City. The masterplan, by Foster +Partners, incorporates lessons which have evolved over centuries of traditional Arabian architecture. The Masdar Institute is the first building of its kind to be powered entirely by renewable solar energy. It will be used as a pilot test bed for the sustainable technologies that will be explored for implementation in future Masdar City buildings. The post graduate students are Masdar City’s first resident community.

Masdar Institute - Photograph by Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

• Architects: Foster + Partners
• Appointment: December 2007
• Construction Start on site: February 2008
• Completion: Phase 1A 2010
• Overall Campus: TBD
• Site Overall Campus Plot – 62,000 sqm. Phase 1A Plot – 14,000 sqm
• Phase 1A: 63,000 sqm opens 2010
• Phase 1B: 86,000 sqm opens 2012
• Phase 2: 85,000 sqm TBC
• Phase 3: 105,000 sqm TBC
• Projected Overall Total Area: 340,000sqm
• Number of Students Phase 1A – 100 Students (Post Graduates)
• Projected for final campus: 600 – 800
• Building height Podium Height – 7.5m.
• Buildings above podium – 24.0 metres.
• Building length Overall Campus Plot – 410 metres
• Building Width Overall Campus Plot – 225 metres
• No. of Storeys Typically for Laboratories: 3 storeys,
• Typically for Residential: 4 storeys
• Knowledge Centre: 2 Storeys
• Phase 1A – 102 total apartments
• Phase 1B – 221 total apartments
• Phase 2 – TBC
• Phase 3 – TBC

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