PROJECT NAME Sports Hall at Khalifah Sports City (Aspire Dome)

LOCATION Doha, Qatar

CLIENT Aspire Logistics

SCOPE Procurement, Construction and Commissioning of a multi-disciplinary fully covered sports facility; the world’s largest indoor multipurpose sports hall. The dome is a landmark development for Qatar and the region and was used for the 2006 Doha Asian Games

DURATION 26 Months

DATE OF COMPLETION September 2005

Sports Hall at Khalifah Sports City

CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING OF A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY SPORTS FACILITY

On 17^th November 2005, the Emir of Qatar H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated the Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence new sports dome. This new sports hall is the world’s largest air-conditioned indoor facility of its kind under an architecturally unique edifice consisting of two semicircular shells. The dome is a landmark development for Qatar and the region, it provides unmatched facilities for the training and development of student-athletes as well as offers a host venue for major sporting events like the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

The noted French architect Roger Taillibert, the architect behind the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris, France and the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada, designed the sports venue. Constructed over two years, its giant roof houses nearly twenty different sports and caters to specific game requirements in each of its fields, courts, halls and units.

MORE INFORMATION

The hall consists of two main sections. The first section contains a major football field, an aquatic complex, a table tennis court and a five-a-side pitch. The second section includes the largest facility designed for track & field, a Judo hall also functioning as a volleyball court, a fencing court which can function as a multipurpose hall, a gymnastics hall, two squash courts and a main multipurpose arena where games like basketball, handball, and volleyball can be held. Under the dome’s distinctive sloping roof, there are also lecture halls, classrooms, science laboratories, dormitories, a library, an amphitheatre and a medical centre. Located between the two main sections is a centralized area equipped with special commentators’ cabins for events taking place in any of the venue facilities. Aside from the sports facilities, this state of the art steel structure also contains a large number of public service facilities, such as restaurants, refreshment areas, a physical fitness hall, Jacuzzis, and a special VIP lounge in the central area.

The Sports Hall is 46 m high comprised of five levels with an overall area of 112,000 m², and a total seating capacity of 15,000, designed to connect the various sports facilities to the administrative and teaching buildings.