Qatar 2022 World Cup to have Demountable Stadium

In the buildup to any FIFA World Cup, constructing stadiums will obviously burn a continent-sized hole in one’s pocket. Billions of dollars are spent on these stadiums in order for spectacles like the FIFA World Cup to run smoothly. Following the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the facility faces the issue of lying dormant and unused. Ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the host nation seem to have come up with a practical solution to combat the issue. The organisers unveiled designs for a modular stadium with the ability to be disassembled and reconstructed in another form in another location. The Qatar 2022 World Cup is still a long way away so meanwhile you can play mobile pokies or look forward to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Spain’s Fenwick Iribarren Architects will be helming this project. The Ras Abu Aboud Stadium will use shipping containers as its foundation. This is a nod to its location close to Doha’s port. The Ras Abu Aboud Stadium is located on the waterfront of the downtown West Bay area with views of the Corniche, Doha’s landmark 7 kilometre-long promenade development. Due to complete in 2020, the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium is one of eight proposed host venues for the 2022 games.

The stadium’s building blocks also serve a very practical purpose. Each of these shipping containers will consist of removable seats, concession stands and toilets. These can easily be dismantled and moved off once the Qatar 2022 World Cup has been run and won.

This means that the entire stadium can be rebuilt in another location in theory. It can be utilised for another World Cup, or broken up into smaller sports or cultural venues. The stadium capacity is 40,000 and is scheduled for completion in 2020. Event organizers hope it can become a model of sustainability when it comes to stadium design.

“This venue offers the perfect legacy, capable of being reassembled in a new location in its entirety or built into numerous small sports and cultural venues,” says Secretary General of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi. “All of this in a stadium that delivers the atmosphere fans expect at a World Cup and which we will build in a more sustainable way than ever before. I’m delighted with this design and confident that Ras Abu Aboud will become a blueprint for future mega-event planners to follow.”

All of the infrastructure for the World Cup has to meet Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) criteria. GSAS rates green building and infrastructure across the Middle East and North Africa.

Other stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar include the Al Thumama Stadium by Qatari architect Ibrahim M Jaidah. The circular stadium with a white diamond-patterned exterior resembles a traditional knitted cap worn by men in the region.

The Lusail Stadium, will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 World Cup. No plans for the new design have been released yet, but it is reported the stadium will have a custom cooling system to keep its interior at a pleasant 26 degrees Celsius.