By Paul Nicholson
November 30 – Qatar’s showpiece Lusail Stadium for the 2022 World Cup will be built as a Qatar-China joint venture between the China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd. and Qatari contractor HBK Contracting Co. The stadium is scheduled for completion in 2020 and will host the opening match and World Cup Final in 2022.
Designed by British architectural firm Foster + Partners, the 80,000-seat stadium will be built 20km north of Doha in Lusail City.
Hassan Al Thawadi, Qatar’s Supreme Committee Secretary General, said: “We are delighted to award the main contract for Lusail Stadium to HBK and CRCC as a joint venture… Lusail Stadium will be the centre-piece of our tournament in 2022, and post tournament will become an integral part of the community in Lusail City in the legacy phase. We look forward to revealing the Qatari-inspired design and detailed legacy plans to the people in Qatar and football fans across the world next year.”
Work at the Lusail stadium construction site actually began in 2014, with early works and site office construction projects now completed as well as levelling and grading works and site and access roads completed. The main-works contractor is expected to be on-site by the end of the year.
While the stadium design will not be unveiled until next year what can be expected is a spectacular venue for football that will become an iconic landmark for global football. The stadium will, according to a Qatari statement, integrate “with the neighboring master-plan.”
Lusail City is expected to have more than 200,000 residents and 170,000 people expected to work in the city’s different districts come the 2022 tournament. “Lusail City’s 19 districts will encompass residential, commercial, hospitality and retail and will be connected by a light rail network, a water taxi transportation system and a cycle and pedestrian network. 30% of the land area will be dedicated to green and open spaces,” said a Qatari press statement.
Plans for the one square kilometre precinct plot for the stadium include a Theatre District that will be the first of its kind in the Middle East.
Cool heads in Qatar
Cooling technology will be a centrepiece of the technological innovation that the Qataris are bringing to the project, though it seems the world has generally been somewhat deaf to the capabilities of what can now be achieved in this area.
Local firm Marafeq will provide up to 30,000 tons of refrigeration to serve the stadium before and during the tournament. All eight stadiums for the 2022 World Cup will feature this technology.
Mr. Ahmed Al Ammari, Marafeq Qatar CEO, said: “Our legacy cooling technology will be optimized for this state-of-the-art venue in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner and we will be able to produce up to 30,000 refrigerated tonnes without any energy wasted to cool the stadium and precinct.”
By the end of 2016, the main-works contractor will be mobilised on site and the SC plans to reveal the final stadium design to the world in early 2017.
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