Construction has been completed on the Al Janoub Stadium, the first stadium commissioned for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Aecom, and situated in the city of Al Wakrah, the stadium underwent a design process beginning in 2013, and was inaugurated on May 16th 2019.
The 40,000 seat stadium can be reduced to 20,000 following the conclusion of the World Cup, at which point it will serve as the home ground to Al Wakrah Sport Club. These temporary seats have been designed to be demountable and transportable to a developing country in need for sporting infrastructure for post-tournament usage. The stadium also features an operable roof designed by Schlaich Bergermann Partner, and a seating bowl cooling system that ensures the stadium can be used during the summer months. The operable roof has been designed in sympathy with the cladding using pleated PTFE fabrics and cables, operating like a sail when deployed.
The scheme reflects the maritime traditions and history of the coastal city of Al Wakrah, incorporating traditional boat design in an abstracted manner, and combining them with practical responses to the climate, context, and functional requirements of a football stadium. The stadium’s roof design is an abstraction of the hulls of dhows turned upside-down and huddled together to provide shade and shelter. This is expressed in the stadium’s envelope geometry, details and selected materiality, including the roof’s beam structure that echoes the interior structure of a d’how’s hull.
Meanwhile, The facades of the stadium are slanted outwards, tapered in elevation and reminiscent of the pleating of a dhow’s sails. The image of the dhow is further emphasized through the large overhang of the stadium’s eaves that incorporates strips of metal cladding reminiscent of the timber structures used in a dhow.
News via: Zaha Hadid Architects
Client: Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™
Architect and Lead Designer: Zaha Hadid Architects
Design: Zaha Hadid, Patrik Schumacher
Project Director: Jim Heverin
Project Associate / Project Architect: Johannes Hoffmann
Project Team: Annarita Papeschi, Andreas Urff, Antonio Monserrat, Cynthia Du, Edgar Payan, Ermis Chavaltzi, Fernando Poucell, Ganesh Nimmala, George King, Ho-Ping Hsia, Irene Guerra, Jan Klaska, Junyi Wang, Karim Muallem, Karoly Markos, Ming Cheong, Moa Carlsson, Mohamed Al-Jubori, Nastassia Linau, Paulo Flores, Peter Irmscher, Rafael Portillo, Stephane Vallotton, Thomas Soo, Vincent Konate, Yeena Yun, Wen-Kai Li (Kevin)
Lead Consultant: Aecom
Operable Roof Design: Schlaich Bergermann Partner
