The seventh proposed stadium for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will be constructed using shipping containers and will be completely demounted and rebuilt elsewhere after the tournament.

The design of the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium – which will have a capacity of 40,000 and host matches up to the quarter-finals stage – has been officially revealed today (28 November), with World Cup organisers saying “it will change the way host nations deliver mega-event facilities.”

Architecture firms Fenwick Iribarren (FI-A), Schlaich Bergermann Partner and Hilson Moran have devised a modular structure using building blocks that can easily be taken apart when required. Recyclable materials will be used to boost sustainability, with even the shipping containers used to transport the materials becoming part of the stadium.

The demountable nature of the structure means it will either be rebuilt in its entirety elsewhere – in Qatar or another country – or separated into different sections that will be redistributed to create smaller facilities. Everything from the roof to rows of seating can be recycled in this way, and the architects have said the venue could even re-appear at a future World Cup.

Once the stadium has been removed post-tournament, a 450,000sq m (4.8 million sq ft) waterfront leisure and commercial development will be built in its place on the shoreline of the Arabian Gulf, next to Corniche Beach.



“Innovation has always been central to our plans for delivering a historic FIFA World Cup that leaves a legacy for Qatar and the world, and there is no better example of this than the design of Ras Abu Aboud Stadium,” said Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary general of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy.

“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. 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.”

FI-A Senior Partner and architect, Mark Fenwick, said: “We're very proud that our design for Ras Abu Aboud Stadium will go down in history as the first-ever moveable and reusable FIFA World Cup stadium. We're confident this innovative and sustainable concept will be an inspiration for stadium developers and architects around the world, capable of creating aesthetically pleasing venues that offer new legacy possibilities.”

He added that the modular approach requires fewer materials, creates less waste, reduces the carbon footprint of the building process and decreases construction time to as little as three years.

Fenwick’s firm have previously designed the Casablanca Football Stadium in Morocco, Norway’s National Stadium and the Qatar Foundation Stadium, also for the World Cup.

The launch of the design of Ras Abu Aboud Stadium follows the announcement of the Al Thumama Stadium in August 2017 and the completion of Khalifa International Stadium in May.

Ras Abu Aboud Stadium is one of eight proposed host venues for the World Cup, with others designed by the likes of Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects.

The sustainability of sporting venues has become a hot-button issue in recent times, particularly in the Olympic movement, with architects experimenting with temporary or reusable facilities.

For the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics, Brazilian architecture practices Oficina de Arquitetos and Lopes, Santos & Ferreira Gomes, in collaboration with London studio AndArchitects, created a temporary 12,000-seat handball arena that was dismantled after the Games so that its materials could be used to build four schools.

Meanwhile, South African architect Ruben Reddy – who was planning a host of temporary stadiums for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban before the event was taken away from the city earlier this year – has told CLADglobal that all stadia and arenas built for events such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games should be demountable.