2012-06-19

The World’s First Sand Stadium

The United Arab Emirates plan to build the world’s first Sand Stadium


The Sand Stadium (or as it’s actually being called, “The Rock Stadium”) is set to be build in the Al Ain desert.

The ground will be build below ground level to make sure heat levels are more easily controlled.

As to the numbers, the stadium will facilitate 40,000 spectators, and will come at a cost of 3.5 billion UAE dirham (or $953 million).

The project will be built by MZ Architects.

Sunken Al Ain Stadium Rises from the Desert in Sharp Planes | Green Prophet


Sinking the Al Ain stadium has multiple benefits. First it allows the project to blend in with the surrounding landscape, adding to its allure rather than destroying it. But it also allows the designer to utilize passive cooling strategies that will minimize the stadium’s energy loads once it is “up and running.”

Al Ain Stadium, Al Ain / UAE by MZ Architects

Working with the existing site and using the local materials, the architects find themselves playing with a carefully studied palette of rock and sand that not only lead to the main façade/visual panels system adhering to the site but also create a more sustainable approach to construction and design where no material is forgotten or displaced and where all is reused. Carful patterns are created with the recuperated stone, creating interestingly designed man-made strata patterns that emphasize the natural characteristic of the site.

This simple yet majestic design hides great achievements and brilliant experimentations with issues of scale, monumentality and locality. It allows the project to create a strong sense of place in an otherwise homogenous area of the vast expanding desert.
MZ Architects wins Retail and Leisure category Award in MIPIM Future Project Awards 2012
MZ Architects has received the Retail and Leisure Award for the design of “Al Ain stadium” at this year’s prestigious MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards ceremony held in Cannes, France, on March 7th 2012.

The project by MZ Architects, a Lebanese design and consultancy firm, was one of 143 entries to the awards that uniquely focus on building designs for projects awaiting construction or still on the drawing board, spanning over ten categories – Big Urban Projects, Mixed Use, Offices, Regeneration and Masterplanning, Retail and Leisure, Retrofit, Tall Buildings, Sustainability and Residential.


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