Omani’s
INT
The Oman Across Ages Museum is a remarkable project that originates from the visionary leadership of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The museum represents Oman’s past, geographic diversity and future aspirations using narrative techniques.
The design leverages the full potential of architecture as a medium for expression and communication. It skillfully uses scale, geometry, form, light, and vistas, to offer diverse possibilities for exhibition curation, installations and performances.
The museum is a cultural and educational landmark for Omanis and visitors alike. As a global cultural hallmark, the museum transports visitors across the nation’s 800-million-year history through a series of immersive, technology rich experiences. The building emerges from the landscape as a series of angular, geometric forms that sit in dialogue with the backdrop of the peaks and ridges of the Al Hajar Mountain range. The museum is a carefully curated ensemble whereby the architecture is an embedded part of the storytelling.
The Oman Across Ages Museum captures the raw beauty of Oman’s natural landscape, its rich history and future ambitions in striking architectural form. Inspired by the fractal complexity of the local terrain, the museum rises from the earth in angular peaks that mirror the ridges of the nearby Al Hajar Mountains.
Clad in pale stone and copper sheeting, the museum stands as a shimmering beacon in the bright light of the arid landscape. Its linear forms extend into articulated gardens that are spliced by narrow water features that in turn have been inspired by traditional irrigation channels and reflect the intimate connection between culture and geography.
The internal layout masterfully balances openness with moments of quiet contemplation. Visitors are led on an orchestrated journey of volumetric progression, from the grandly proportioned Welcome Hall, through an internal colonnade framed by distant horizon views, before entering the immersive exhibition galleries. This sense of expansion and contraction is reflected in the exhibitions themselves, which shift between sweeping historical narratives and stories of everyday people.
This project demonstrates the potential for architecture to act as a form of cultural storytelling. By drawing on the unique landscape, heritage and culture of Oman, Cox Architecture has created an elegantly sculptural museum that embodies the spirit of Oman and its people.
The Oman Across Ages Museum stands as a world-class destination, offering a variety of spaces dedicated to culture, education, research and social interaction, instrumental in strengthening our community engagement. The museum’s design leverages the full potential of architecture as a medium for expression and communication.
It skillfully uses scale, geometry, form, light, and vistas, to offer diverse possibilities for installations, displays, and performances. As visitors move through the building, they encounter a series of unfolding spatial sequences that encourage exploration. The open and intuitive layout allows for a natural flow of movement, guiding visitors through the museum effortlessly without congestion.
Steven Woodland, Design Architect
Gregory Howlett, Project Architect
Amanda Ainslie, Project Design Lead
Christopher Foy, Project Design Lead
David Hainsworth, Project Technical Lead
Bret White, Design Architect
Aung Kyaw Thein, Project Architect
Edwin Tee, Documentation Coordinator
Dominique Tiller, Interior Design
Deepti Wetjen, Project Architect
Mark Mckenna, Project Documentation
Mario Celik, Documentation team member
Aurecon, Structural Engineer
Aurecon, Services Consultant
Aurecon, Civil Consultant
Event Communications, Exhibition Designers
Spaceagency Design, Wayfinding and Signage
LDPI Lighting International, Lighting Consultant
Barker Langham, Exhibition Content Management Development
Stuart Pullyblank, Landscape Consultant
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
