Khalifa Stadium Renovation

Qatar’s Khalifa Stadium is located in the Aspire Zone of the city of Doha, which is home to world-leading sports training and performance facilities. Its reputation as a centre for sports excellence led it to be chosen as the venue of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, one of the world’s most anticipated annual sporting events. As a result, the stadium – originally built in the 1970s – would need to be expanded, upgraded and renovated in order to make it one of the most cutting-edge sports events locales in the world. The Aspire Zone Foundation awarded the Khalifa Stadium project jointly to BESIX and Midmac, one of its long-term partners, in 2014.

As a national icon as well as living building in use on an almost continuous basis, the most important challenge involved renovating and adding to existing facilities while coordinating its simultaneous use. It was also essential to keep the 40-year-old ‘spirit’ of the original innovative structure alive and well while inserting new elements, and ensure that all modifications adhered to FIFA standards. During the renovation process, rapid progress had to be made in order to keep the facility up and running for the many events taking place there throughout the year.

The Khalifa Stadium was familiar territory to BESIX, which was responsible for its 2003 renovation in advance of the 2006 Asian Games. The complete renovation and expansion of the Khalifa Stadium was completed on time in April 2017, with the works causing minimal interruptions to the facility’s ongoing operations and events. BESIX operated with a high level of flexibility and follow-up, coordinating the multifaceted actions of the technical and execution personnel and collaborating with the client on a daily basis. The external shell of the building was completely redone, a 44,000 m2 membrane roofing structure was added, and 11,496 new seats were installed.