Qatar unveils first-ever FIFA World Cup stadium to be built from shipping containers

Abandoned stadiums and crumbling arenas are often left in the wake of events like the World Cup and the Olympics. In a bid for more sustainable construction, Qatar has unveiled plans for the world?s first fully modular stadium ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Designed by Fenwick Iribarren, Schlaich Bergermann Partner and Hilson Moran, the 40,000-seat arena, known as the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, would be mainly built of shipping containers to allow for disassembly and reconstruction

The plans for the cargotecture stadium?the latest in Qatar?s total of eight proposed host venues for the FIFA World Cup?was revealed this week Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the organization tasked with delivering the infrastructure for the 2022 event. 

Unlike the World Cup stadiums before it, the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium will be built of modular building blocks presumably constructed in a factory with amenities, such as removable seats, concession stands, and bathrooms, ahead of on-site assembly. The modular approach results in less waste and a reduced carbon footprint, and may earn the stadium a four-star Global Sustainability Assessment System certification.

?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,? said SC Secretary General H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi. Qatar?s new World Cup stadium is expected to be completed in 2020 and will be located on a 450,000-square-meter waterfront site nearby a Doha port.