From above this looks like your normal football stadium –
the kind you would expect to find in any major city.
The roof design, the terraces, the bright lights – there’s nothing out of the ordinary here.
But come at it from the ground and you’ll notice something
really interesting – shipping containers.
You’re looking at the world’s first demountable stadium. It can be taken apart and reused,
and it’s set to host matches at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
It’s a truly unique construction project, but there’s more to it than that.
With major tournament organisers needing to prove their stadiums won’t be left to rot afterwards –
like we’ve seen before – this idea could really be a game changer.
Whether it’s the World Cup, Summer Olympics or the Winter Games,
there’s always something big to look forward to in the world of sport.
Every four years thousands of fans will come together in places like this,
with millions more watching worldwide, to see all the top athletes in action.
There will be noise, drama, excitement and then, once the fun is over and the
medals have been handed out, the whole place goes quiet – sometimes permanently.
And that’s where some places that have hosted these tournaments before
have had a bit of a problem.
They’ve invested huge money and effort into building huge venues that have only hosted a few
matches during an event that lasted just weeks and now they’re not sure what to do with them.
Yes, there have been many success stories of course – cities that have given their
stadiums another purpose and made them central to their development.
But there are also examples of how not to do it – host cities that have sadly
let their venues go to waste because there was no real strategy for what comes next.
So, what if they didn’t have to worry about that?
What if, once the event had finished, you could pack the stadium up and send
it off somewhere else – to be used again for a future tournament or something else entirely?
That’s the idea behind this new stadium in Qatar –
one of the host venues for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Unlike other arenas built for the tournament, where visual appeal was obviously a priority,
what sets this one apart is not what it looks like, but what it’s made from.
The 40,000-seat venue was constructed using hundreds
of shipping containers and modular steel elements.
It’s called Stadium 974, and that's not a random number –
that's how many containers were needed to build it.
Having these ready-made building blocks has meant using fewer
materials than would normally be required for a stadium like this.
It’s more cost-effective and has less impact on the environment too.
The containers were also used to transport material to the site
before becoming a part of the construction itself.
These are just some of the things that make Stadium 974
a “symbol of sustainability,” in the words of the organisers.
Much of the steel in the structure is recycled and because of its coastal location and design,
there’s no need for a cooling system in the stadium bowl at all – it’s naturally ventilated.
There will also be around 40% less water used here compared to a conventional stadium.
Then there’s what happens after England probably lose on penalties again
and another team is crowned world champions in December.
The whole stadium will be deconstructed and – using
those containers again – shipped off to another part of the world.
The plan is for it to be donated to under-developed nations or rebuilt
for another World Cup, but even if the components end up on projects
that have nothing to do with football or sport, the point is they’re being reused.
Now, the stadium’s look might not be to everyone’s taste, but with host nations needing to cut back
on their carbon footprint more than ever, designs like this are a step in the right direction.
Data from FIFA shows that over a fifth of the 3.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gases expected
to be generated from the 2022 World Cup will come from the building of permanent venues.
Stadium 974 isn’t a permanent venue.
So, is this the way to go from now on?
Well, some critics are not fully convinced by these sustainability claims,
and we can’t talk about the 2022 World Cup without mentioning the shocking reports on
the treatment of foreign workers in Qatar over the past decade.
According to these sources, thousands of migrants have died here since the country
was awarded the World Cup in 2010, and many of them are thought to have
lost their lives working on stadiums and other projects linked to the tournament.
It doesn’t matter how exciting or ambitious the project, statistics like these should never be
tolerated, and given the cost in human lives it’s difficult to describe as ‘sustainable’.
But we can still learn from the overall initiative, and Stadium 974 isn’t the
only way that the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy – that’s the group
organising the event – has looked to lower its carbon footprint.
All eight stadiums built for the World Cup are either in Doha or close to it, reducing
the need for new infrastructure and ensuring less energy is spent travelling to venues.
Fans will be encouraged to get around using the new metro system or electric buses,
there’s a solar power plant being built nearby,
and any so-called “unavoidable emissions” will be offset with things like tree planting.
But some don’t believe this goes far enough for one of the world’s largest
producers of natural gas – to the point where it’s been accused of “greenwashing.”
Qatar is keen to push how it’s cutting down on carbon, yet it is still expected to use air
conditioning systems that run on fossil fuels in its other venues, for example.
Also, Stadium 974 is the only one that’s demountable, and will the rest get used properly
afterwards in a country that’s not exactly known for sport? We’ll have to wait and see.
There are undoubtedly going to be some big questions and concerns about the
World Cup will continue to make headlines, particularly on the topic of human rights,
but if you take just this stadium alone it at least shows what can now be done with design.
And it’s an idea that other organisers can surely learn from in the future –
one that could help keep the mistakes of previous tournaments firmly in the past.
If you enjoyed this video and want to learn more about where construction is headed,
make sure you’re subscribed to Tomorrow’s Build.