The design for Al Thumama Stadium was entrusted to Arab Engineering Bureau and its GCEO and Chief Architect Ibrahim Jaidah back in 2015.
Concept is derived from a traditional head piece worn by men across the Middle East locally referred to as gahfiya. Gahfiya is worn by young boys before they would wear a full headgear and adult men wear it under their ghutras.
Being the first GCC architect to take on the design for the World Cup stadium, it is clearly difficult for Ibrahim M. Jaidah to hide his excitement and pride:
“I was extremely enthusiastic when we were awarded the design for Al Thumama Stadium. Here, the aim was to create the design that would resonate not only with Qatar but with the whole region. In our culture, the gahfiya forms an important part of every young boy’s pathway to adulthood, and this rite of passage was fundamental inspiration for the design. I am honored to have been given an opportunity to work with such exceptional local team that represents Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy who have challenged me as an architect to create a landmark for our future generation. Further, I am very proud of the talented team of individuals from AEB who have supported me though the process.”
Located 6 kilometers south of Doha and 12 kilometers from Hamad International Airport, 6th precinct – Al Thumama Stadium is being constructed on the 515,400 sqm plot. Stadium is planned to welcome 40,000 spectators during the tournament. In its post-tournament legacy mode seating capacity will be reduced to 20,000 and additional space will be adapted for use by renowned sports health center Aspetar and boutique hotel.
The construction of Al Thumama began in 2016 when enabling works were completed. In early 2017 Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy awarded main construction package to Qatari-Turkish JV between Aljabeer Engineering Company and Tekafen Construction.
