Qatar has finished razing Al Rayyan Stadium, reusing or recycling some 90 percent of its construction materials, and is now planning to go ahead with its reconstruction as a venue for the 2022 World Cup.
The stadium is expected to be completed in 2019. However, its final design has yet to be revealed. According to a spokesman for the Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy (SCDL), this will be done “soon.”
The design unveiling had previously been scheduled for Qatar National Day (Dec. 18) last year, but then was postponed at the last minute. Speaking to Doha News, the spokesman did not give a reason for the delay.
The stadium, which was the second to be announced as an arena for the 2022 tournament, is going to be built from scratch on the existing Al Rayyan site, with an increased capacity of 40,000 spectators, double the former arena’s space.
After the World Cup, a top modular tier will be removed, reducing capacity back to 20,000 fans. The tier is expected to be sent out of Qatar to provide football facilities in developing countries.
Nearly all of the construction materials used in the old stadium have been put to new uses, the SCDL said in a statement.
Recycled and reused
For example, wooden doors, windows frames and windows have been repurposed for use in staff accommodation and site offices. Staff housing has also been equipped with old light switches, electric sockets and plumbing fixtures and fittings.
Reinforcement bars, cables, trays, flags and piping have been used by the SC’s arts and culture department for artwork, concrete was crushed and stored for future site leveling works and topsoil has been stockpiled for future precinct landscaping works or sold on.
Reinforcement bars and other metal items are being recycled by Qatar Steel, while the SC said scrap timber would be recycled by licensed centers.
Initial plans for the stadium had been to refurbish the existing design, but in October last year, the SCDL announced that the arena would instead be razed and rebuilt.
Design reveal
Though plans for the final design have yet to be confirmed, the new stadium is expected to incorporate modern amenities such as a social club, cricket ground, trails for running or walking and other facilities.
At the time of bidding for the World Cup, initial renderings of the stadium showed it wrapped in an over-sized digital display board, showing scores, photographs and other information.
But as has happened with other stadiums, the final design could change. The SCDL would not confirm whether the display board feature would be incorporated into the final plans.
The contractors responsible for redeveloping Al Rayyan Stadium were announced last year as Manco International General Contracting W.L.L., a joint venture between Manco W.L.L and Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd.
Other arenas
So far, eight stadiums have been confirmed as venues for the World Cup, although final designs have only been released for four of them. Al Wakrah stadium, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, was the first to be confirmed, with completion set for 2018.
Other venues with confirmed designs include Al Bayt stadium in Al Khor, Khalifa Stadium in Aspire Zone and the Qatar Foundation arena in Education City.
Stadiums are also expected to be built at the current site of the Qatar Sports Club near Dafna and near Hamad International Airport. The opening ceremony and final match will be played in Lusail Stadium, which will be the event’s flagship arena and which is being designed by the firm led by British architect Sir Norman Foster.
The SC has yet to reveal the final plans for these venues.
At the time of bidding for the World Cup, Qatar said it planned to have 12 stadiums. However, FIFA regulations only require a minimum of eight, and it is expected that Qatar will scale back accordingly.
Previously, FIFA’s executive committee was expected to make a decision on the number of venues at its meeting earlier this month.
That did not take place, with attention instead focused on confirming that Qatar would host the tournament in the winter instead of the summer, with the final to be played on National Day (December 18).
Thoughts?
Marhaba Mr Laborer, and welcome to your new accommodation. Please don’t be alarmed by the hole in your door, the fact that your wall socket only works intermittently, your leaky faucet, or by the brown and black stains on your toilet. The appropriate term for your problems is “repurposed.” Learn this term and get used to using it, especially if any reporter asks you about anything. We’ll have a plan for what you’re actually supposed to be building “soon!” (And if the price of oil goes back up over $100 we might be able to find you a new toilet that actually flushes…….)
A dog knows only to bark. Get well soon
Not really sure what you mean. Try running it through Google Translate again with slightly different phrasing. That might help.
Yelling at a dog to stop barking doesn’t work because the dog just goes.” Cool, now we’re both barking.”
Deleting for personal attack, and subsequent thread.
Ah, the dreaded “soon.”
And the continuation of the bait-and-switch charade that was Qatar’s bid. The groundbreaking new cooling technology? Well, that’s really just an idea that’s never been implemented. Twelve fancy stadiums? Hey, the minimum is eight, so we’ll go with that after all. The spectacular stadium designs? We just commissioned the best artists that money can buy to dream big, with no linkage to actual construction. The unique wraparound video screen? Ditto, just a cool idea that an artist came up with. I am sure that the whole idea of reusable, modular stadiums that will be donated to poor Arab countries will also turn out to be a phony promise.
Either FIFA are the most gullible people ever, or the process was so rigged that the substance of Qatar’s bid didn’t matter at all. I’ll go with (b).
The football and heritage aspect of the 2022 World Cup discussion always faint in the heavy arms of Qatar’s labors and social issues. Fair enough, I would say. However, once a read such article about destroying an “old” stadium to make brand new one – even re-using pieces of the it – I found a lost opportunity to plan a transfer of intangible heritage. People cannot forget that stadiums are “places of memory”, or better saying, people had lived important moments of their lives there… All these memories connect with the building should be carefully planning to not be lost in time-space.