Abu Dhabi Children’s Library

A place of play, discovery, and reading, the Abu Dhabi Children’s Library gives the Emirate its first library designed entirely for children. Set on the historic Qasr Al Hosn site, it is inserted into the Cultural Foundation as part of this modernist landmark’s comprehensive renovation. Its architecture works like a life-size pop-up book, built at full scale to let visitors walk into a story. 

Creativity, literacy, and learning that lasts a lifetime underpin the library’s purpose: to instil an enduring love of reading and to draw children closer to the arts, technology, and one another. Immersive environments answer that purpose, letting children explore favourite stories and discover new worlds in both analogue and digital form. 

Themes drawn from the landscapes of the UAE bring the content of the books to life. Across 5,250 m², three floors wrap a new diagonal atrium. Exhibition and workshop areas occupy the entrance level. The floor above transports children to the desert, where they climb “sand dunes” to read and play. The top floor opens onto an oasis, its “falaj” channels running with books. 

The project belongs to the master plan reinstating Qasr al Hosn as Abu Dhabi’s cultural heart, where the next chapter of a long history is entrusted to its youngest readers.