populous updates 1980s-era king fahad stadium in riyadh with new cable net roof
King Fahad Stadium prepares for 2034
On the eastern edge of Riyadh, King Fahad Sports City Stadium rises with the familiar silhouette of a landmark that has carried Saudi football, concerts, and national gatherings since the late 1980s.
Opened in 1987 as the first large-scale stadium of its kind in the region, the venue is now entering a major renovation led by Populous in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Sports, as the country prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034.
The project looks beyond a simple upgrade of seats and services. It will expand capacity, renew the stadium’s technical systems, and reshape the surrounding site into a mixed-use sports park that can support major tournament football, large entertainment events, and community activity across the year.
King Fahad Stadium will also serve as a centrepiece for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, giving the renovation a nearer horizon before the global focus of 2034.
visualizations courtesy Populous
Preserving a national landmark
The design by Populous keeps key elements of Riyadh’s original stadium while adapting them for new demands. The existing East Stand will be retained and refurbished, along with the facilities beneath it, while the west side will preserve the venue’s iconic Hive structure and royal areas.
These decisions by the architects keep the stadium’s recognizable bowl intact, even as the building gains the media, operational, and hospitality infrastructure required for international events.
Capacity will grow through a new lower tier created by excavating ten meters into the ground. Instead of removing the soil from the site, the project will reuse it to form the surrounding landscape, where training areas and public amenities will gather around the stadium.
The plan includes a football academy, sports center, amphitheater, fan zone, five-a-side football pitches, a footgolf course, and commercial areas, turning the former perimeter into a broader destination.
King Fahad Sports City Stadium is being renovated ahead of the 2034 FIFA World Cup
Reusing the fabric of the stadium
Much of the renovation is shaped by reuse. The original roof canopy had reached the end of its useful life and could no longer support the audiovisual rigging required for contemporary concerts, yet its structural masts and cables will stay within the project.
These elements will be reworked as photovoltaic shading structures over the parking areas, producing enough energy to meet the stadium’s non-event power needs, including on-site electric vehicle charging stations.
Other parts of the existing venue will also move into new roles. The hexagonal cladding that once wrapped the ramps and podium will be repurposed across the park’s landscape terraces and used to clad a new energy centre and substation.
Seats, sanitary fittings, and lampposts are being removed during construction for reuse in community initiatives, while more than 400 existing trees around the stadium will be relocated and replanted within the new park.
the 1987 stadium will keep key parts of its original bowl and skyline profile
A new canopy and cooler bowl
To preserve the stadium’s profile on the Riyadh skyline, Populous will introduce a new system of structural masts capable of carrying the loads of modern entertainment events.
A 36,000-square-meter cable-net roof canopy will extend over the seating bowl and podium, bringing back the shaded quality that has long defined the spectator experience while giving the stadium the technical capacity expected of a World Cup venue.
Inside the bowl, Populous’ sustainability division has developed a new displacement cooling strategy in response to Riyadh’s climate. After studying heat build-up in the concrete seating terraces, the team proposed semi-automatic deployable covers that reflect sunlight during the day and reduce heat absorption before events.
Tests show that the system can lower the concrete temperature by up to 8 degrees Celsius, easing radiant heat when the covers retract for match time and reducing pressure on the stadium’s cooling systems.
a new 36000 square meter cable net canopy will bring shade back to the seating bowl
a new lower tier will be carved 10 meters into the ground to expand capacity
deployable terrace covers will reduce concrete heat by up to 8 degrees Celsius
the original roof masts and cables will become photovoltaic shading structures over parking areas
excavated soil will be reused to shape new landscapes and training areas around the stadium
project info:
name: King Fahad Sports City
architect: Populous | @wearepopulous
location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The post populous updates 1980s-era king fahad stadium in riyadh with new cable net roof appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.
