When the new “Wall” Stadium set to be built in Doha, Qatar is completed in 2010, it will be the first underground stadium ever constructed. Nicknamed “The Laptop” for obvious reasons, the stadium will have no traditional floodlights. Instead, the lights will be embedded into the architecture, which adds to the clean futuristic look. Apparently, the unique underground design will serve as a natural air conditioning system of sorts, which saves money that could have been spent on a traditional domed, temperature controlled facility.
The Wall is expected to host a number of major soccer events in the future, but with a capacity of only 11,000, I have a hard time believing that will be possible. To be honest, it seems as though the design has taken precedence over common sense here. Why else would you build such a tiny stadium on what is obviously a large piece of real estate? [Times Fantasy Football via Coolbuzz]
azfish
September 10, 2008 at 10:07 AM
Pretty sure Gjovik Cavern in Norway beats this hands-down. It was built for the 1994 winter Olympics as an underground (seriously – inside a mountain) ice hockey stadium.
Info: http://www.fjellhallen.no/gammel/engindex.html
Pic1: http://buildllc.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/gjovik_01.jpg
Report PermalinkPic2: http://buildllc.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/gjovik_02.jpg
Tigerion
September 10, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Did people actually click through to the images
Report PermalinkThe large green space is actually the roof of the grandstands, the centre is just the playing pitch
It is still a small stadium and couldn’t hold a world cup there but as stated earlier the people going here don’t want many people about