ABU DHABI // Construction has finished on New York University Abu Dhabi's main campus on Saadiyat Island.
The 21 buildings, which took less than four years to complete, span 450,000 square meters, an area equivalent to eight New York city blocks.
The campus includes academic buildings, a library, theatres, indoor sports facilities, student and faculty residences and laboratories.
In addition, the outdoor sports facilities, including pitches, a grandstand and an athletics track, are scheduled for completion by mid-July.
For its sustainable design, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council awarded the new campus the Estidama 2 Pearl rating, the minumum requirement for all government buidings.
Its construction used environmentally-sustainable standards, while renewable energy sources will be used to generate 75 per cent of campus hot water and 10 per cent of its energy.
The university said the campus’s design aims to promote interaction between different faculties, students and staff.
“NYU Abu Dhabi has set uniquely demanding goals for the quality of the faculty, students, and staff that it recruits, and for the excellence of its academic programmes.” said Al Bloom, NYU AD vice chancellor.
“We have likewise set rigorous standards for the fair and humane treatment of those who are building, maintaining, and operating our facilities. This remarkable campus reflects in the beauty of its architecture and in the functional capacity of its facilities, that same commitment to achieving excellence.”
Mr Bloom said that the Saadiyat campus is essential to realising NYUAD’s role as an educational centre within the community.
“It will contribute powerfully to realising our educational mission, enhance the bonds of our own community, and help transform the university into an intellectual and cultural magnet for the UAE and the world,“ he said.
Julia Saubier, a sophomore student studying social research and public policy, said she was excited about the new campus.
“The transition to our campus on Saadiyat Island provides us students with limitless opportunities,” said the 19-year-old, who has dual French-Filipino nationality.
“I’m excited to be living in a place with the facilities to fully support my academic and extracurricular goals. I think the new campus will provide an environment imbued with school unity and pride.”
Although building work is finished, the campus will not be open until August at the start of the next academic year.
nalwasmi@thenational.ae