The proposed “Museum of the Future” in Dubai would have been impossible without using parametric design and Building Information Modelling (BIM), the lead consultant on the project has said.

Tobias Bauly, project director at UK-based BuroHappold Engineering, told the BBC: “We knew we needed to have everything in a digital environment because geometrically you couldn’t define everything.

“It probably would have become something else; the shape would have been dumbed down and it would have been much more difficult to build. Technology has really been the enabler for this project.”

He added: “Everything we have ever known about doing buildings has changed within the space of this one project, because the project demanded it. Otherwise, we couldn’t have solved the challenges that came as a result of the shape. It has changed how we work and that is great for the industry moving forwards.”

The museum aims to attract over a million visitors per year once it opens later this year.