Stadium 974, previously Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, is one of the most innovative and radical to be built for a FIFA World Cup™ tournament – or any sporting event!
The 40,000-seat venue, situated looking across Doha’s Al Dafna/West Bay skyline and the Arabian Gulf, has been built in such a way that it can be completely dismantled and reused for other sporting projects after the competition, setting a new standard in sustainability and how to reuse stadiums in legacy mode.
Due to the temporary nature of the stadium and the clever modular design, using fewer building materials than seen in traditional stadium buildings has reduced construction costs. The project has a lower carbon footprint due to its dockside location as natural sea breezes lessen the requirements on the stadium’s cooling system.
The design is the brainchild of Fenwick Iribarren Architects. It has been constructed using shipping containers, removable seats and other modular building blocks, a unique and colourful design in keeping with the nearby port. Most of the stadium’s major requirements – for example, seating, bathroom facilities and food stalls – operate within the shipping containers. These have been arranged in an elegant curved square which give the venue its iconic aesthetic.
The dismantling of the stadium is a first for a FIFA World Cup™ venue. Just about everything will be repurposed – the 40,000 seats, the containers and the roof – and donated to projects elsewhere. This means the entire stadium may be built in another location, or the elements split up and used on a number of sporting and non-sporting venues. Once the stadium has been removed, a new waterfront development will include a large public park with retail space.
The stadium was inaugurated on 30 November 2021 for the FIFA Arab Cup™ and renamed Stadium 974 to reflect the number of shipping containers used, as well as Qatar’s international dialling code.
