Sports City Stadium, located along the Persian Gulf in the eastern coastal city of Doha, was designed as a proposal for one of the stadia included in the winning 2022 Qatar World Cup bid. The multipurpose venue will provide Qatar with an opportunity to present the most flexible, technologically sophisticated, and environmentally sustainable stadiums the world has ever seen. In addition to World Cup soccer, the stadium is designed to accommodate a variety of uses, even beyond sport. It achieves this through the implementation of proven flexible building technology allowing it to be not one, but many stadiums. It is also a convention center, a water park, a breathtaking mall-in-the-sky, a luxury hotel, a cultural center, a museum for sport, an amphitheater, a plenary, a business center, a collection of unique clubs, and more.

Drawing on the rich tradition of nomadic Bedouin “architecture” which has adapted so well to the harsh environment of the Middle East, the structure’s inspiration comes from a Bedouin tent. Like nomadic culture, the tents have an architectural design which enables them to adapt to their environment. The versatile stadium incorporates a partially-retractable roof, retractable pitch and a transformable seating bowl. The retractable roof will be large enough to hold occupied program, adding to the 46,890-seat occupancy of the stadium. The large fabric roof functions as a massive “tent” sheltering the plazas, hotel and theater below, creating a “Village Square” active 24/7, year-round.

PROJECT STATISTICS
LOCATION: Doha, Qatar
CLIENT: Qatar 2022 World Cup Supreme Committee
SIZE: 49,000 seats
YEAR: 2011
COST: $1.6 Billion
PROJECT TYPE: Stadium, Sports-Anchored Districts, Interior Design & Branding, Sponsor Integration & Activation