SKM was appointed as a sub-consultant to AFRICON (Aurecon) to provide the structural engineering concept and scheme design for the 45,000 seat stadium, one of the ten host venues for the Football World Cup 2010.
Internal Perspective
SKM’s design input began in 2006 with a blank piece of paper and was carried out at an intense pace to allow construction to commence on site in February 2007.
The Client’s brief was a cost effective design that could easily be adapted to legacy mode after the World Cup events. SKM’s aim was to produce a simple yet innovative stadium design that would easily allow the target construction dates to be met.
The design is inspired by culture and simple construction. It is based upon the iconic ‘Baobab’ tree, indigenous trees with large diameter trunks that support each corner of the stadium which accommodates vertical circulation ramps and service cores where the steel structure holding up the roof is anchored. The trunk effectively provides sufficient space for the circulation of the crowds and the branches provide support for the 170 metre long roof trusses allowing a clear view of the pitch from every seat. The building comprises an upper and lower tier on all 4 sides and apart from the roof, is predominantly of concrete construction. The main frame is of in situ concrete construction with the bulk of the seating units utilising pre cast concrete units.
The overall design used modular construction elements which were repeated throughout. The same modular principle can be seen in the long span roof structure which can be adapted to suit the future needs of the stadium.