The team behind the development of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi have asked contractors to renew their tender bids, indicating the long-stalled development could be about to splutter back into life after several years on the shelf.

Speaking to Arabian Business, a senior executive with one of the bidding companies said the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) had recently asked them to renew their bid bond.

“The commercial bid was submitted a long time ago,” said the executive. “It was verified and discussed, but there was no outcome from the client. However, they asked us to renew the bid bond three weeks ago and we have.”

Speaking in February last year, project architect Frank Gehry said that work had not yet started on the museum, with no construction contract awarded for the US$680m (€622.5m, £528m) project. Speaking in April, TDIC CEO Sufian Hasan Al Marzooqi confirmed the museum was not on hold, despite the original deal for the museum being signed more than a decade ago in July 2006.

Surrounded on three sides by the Persian Gulf, the site will act as a manmade breakwater that protects the island’s northern beaches. According to Guggenheim, the design is an “experiment in inventive 21st-century museum design”, with the building “defining a new approach to the museum visitor experience, presenting an innovative vision for viewing contemporary art in the context of a desert landscape.”

Inspired by expansive industrial studio spaces, the museum’s design “reflects the large scale at which many contemporary artists work,” and presents new gallery layouts unlike conventional museum spaces, with clusters of galleries connected by catwalks center around a covered courtyard.

Once complete, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be the largest of the Guggenheim museums. The museum will include 13,000sq m (140,000sq ft) of gallery space, 18,000sq m (194,000sq ft) of exhibition space, a 350-seat theatre, a library, research centre and restaurants.

TDIC is currently developing both the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in Abu Dhabi as part of the Saadiyat Island development. The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority will operate and manage both institutions. Louvre Abu Dhabi is scheduled to be handed over to the authority later this year.

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