Ras Abu Aboud Stadium ... will be erected using modular building blocks.

Qatar has unveiled the design of Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, the first-ever fully demountable Fifa World Cup stadium, capable of being reassembled on another site or turned into multiple smaller venues.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the organisation responsible for delivering the infrastructure required to host the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, unveiled the design of the project which is the seventh 2022 Fifa World Cup stadium design to be released.

Ras Abu Aboud Stadium champions a bold and innovative design concept never seen in a Fifa World Cup venue before. Built using modular building blocks – each containing removable seats, concession stands, lavatories and other fundamental stadium elements, it combines tournament experience and legacy planning in a revolutionary way to create a unique venue, according to the SC.

 This innovative design was envisioned by Fenwick Iribarren Architects (FI-A), a firm with experience of designing some of the world’s most impressive sports arenas, including the Casablanca Football Stadium in Morocco, Norway’s new National Stadium and the iconic 2022 Fifa World Cup venue of Qatar Foundation Stadium.

 Challenged with creating a venue that offers world-class atmosphere and fan experience as well as unrivalled legacy benefits, FI-A broke the stadium down into conceptual ‘building blocks’. The modular building blocks Ras Abu Aboud Stadium consists of are modified shipping containers, each containing fundamental stadium elements that can be quickly and sustainably assembled and disassembled at various locations as required.

Ras Abu Aboud’s modular design also means construction of the venue will require fewer materials, create less waste and reduce the carbon footprint of the building process, all while reducing the time taken to build the stadium to as little as three years. Thanks to this sustainable approach to the stadium’s construction, the stadium will receive a four-star Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) certification.

The 40,000-seat venue is slated for completion in 2020 and will be located in a 450,000-sq-m waterfront site on Doha’s shore, where the use of shipping containers as one of the main building blocks will echo the nearby port.

Situated just southeast of Doha and 1.5 km from Hamad International Airport, it will be serviced by excellent transport links, including a dedicated stop on Qatar Rail’s Gold Line.

The launch of the design of Ras Abu Aboud Stadium follows the design launch of Al Thumama Stadium in August 2017 and the completion of Khalifa International Stadium for the Emir Cup Final 2017 in May. Ras Abu Aboud Stadium is one of eight proposed host venues for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.