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When the 2022 FIFA World Cup games arrived at Qatar’s Khalifa International Stadium, viewers saw an innovative and visually stunning roof system built by Birdair Inc. Qatar has the honor of hosting the first-ever World Cup in the Middle East, where the Khalifa stadium is one of eight that will host World Cup matches from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18.
Taiyo Middle East, a Birdair subsidiary based in Dubai, UAE, designed, fabricated, supplied and installed the sustainable membrane roof system for the stadium during a 2017 renovation project.
The stadium’s innovative roof will provide shade to both the stands and the pitch, while letting sufficient sunlight through to ensure healthy grass growth of the natural turf pitch.
The integrated tensile membrane system features a combination of three product lines from Taiyo Middle East. The largest part of the roof system features 500,000 square feet of PTFE fiberglass membrane. Approximately 35,000 square feet of the roof’s south leading edge utilizes single-layered TensoSky ETFE film supported by a cable net. And a third portion of the roof, located on the lower edges near the compression ring, incorporates Birdair’s Tensotherm system to enhance thermal performance.
Khalifa International Stadium became the first venue in the world to be awarded a 4-star Global Sustainability Assessment Systems (GSAS) certification. To further reduce the tournament’s carbon footprint, a new metro is available for fans at Sports City Station, located directly adjacent to the stadium.
Project name: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar
Project contractor: Birdair Inc.
Designed and installed by: Taiyo Middle East, Dubai, UAE
Fabrics used:
- 500,000 sq. ft. PTFE fiberglass membrane
- 35,000 sq. ft. TensoSky ETFE film
- Tensotherm tensile fabric