Across more than 35,000 square metres, the museum, designed by architecture firm Mecanoo, invites visitors on a journey through hundreds of millions of years of natural history. A hyperrealistic model of a Liopleurodon, a marine reptile with rows of sharp teeth, resides in its galleries alongside other models of pterosaurs and lizards from the Mesozoic era, a flock of birds from the Cretaceous, and a herd of animals from the Cenozoic. 

Elsewhere, semi-translucent models of today’s endangered animals are illuminated in a sobering display of our present species “fading away”, while a Tasmanian biome in the Our World gallery charts life on our planet. Outside, more than 100 bronze sculptures of animals found in the Arabian Peninsula and at local wadis — river valleys cut into the desert — trace the history of the region. 

Using bone and fossil evidence as a guide, as well as paleoart provided by Spain-based design company Icaria Atelier and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, we worked closely with subject matter experts to ensure that our full-scale models in the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi were not only anatomically correct but displayed in a way that felt believable, down to the gesture of a limb and the texture of skin.

The reconstructions of extinct species on display are the result of countless discussions and lively online workshops, where we worked directly with palaeontologists and researchers, sharing progress and refining the smallest of details to ensure each model was as close to reality as possible.

For Jane Wenley, Art Director at Wētā Workshop, it was a fascinating and deeply rewarding process. “Sculptors often work with careful consideration of anatomy, but you generally have some real-life reference to inform your decision-making,” she says. “For these reconstructions, the structure of bones informed not only the muscular forms of the animal, but also provided clues to how they move, and in turn how they lived.” It’s the first time some of these animals have ever been represented through fully fleshed reconstructions. 

These species — their reconstructions and their fossils — play an important part in educating future generations, illustrating animal behaviour and preserving a wealth of scientific knowledge. “To show hyper-realistic realisations of the animals, particularly the extinct species, lets us look through a window to the past and helps viewers to understand the magnitude of the world as it was,” says Rob Gillies, General Manager of Manufacture at Wētā Workshop. 

As this cultural destination took form, Wētā Workshop was also approached to display some of the museum’s fossil collection in a creatively exciting way, helping to share knowledge about how researchers collect fossils for study and preservation. 

Visitors will discover variously sized marine life fossils placed in a flowing formation inspired by fins and water, guiding movement through the mezzanine. In another case, ancient specimens rest against the spirals of ammonites and the flower-like forms of crinoids — a trove of different geological epochs and ecosystems.