Continuing its commitment to sustainability and following the launch of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Sustainability Strategy, Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has received final certificates for GSAS Design & Build 5-Star, GSAS Construction Management Class A* and GSAS Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) certifications for Al Bayt Stadium. The three prestigious awards have been presented to SC by the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD).

Located in Qatar’s coastal city of Al Khor, Al Bayt Stadium is among the eight proposed venues for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Featuring a total capacity of 60,000 seats, the state-of-the-art sports facility benefits from a sustainable, modular design approach which means that selected seating tiers will be dismantled and repurposed post World Cup.

Commending the efforts of SC and Al Bayt’s project teams, Dr. Yousef Alhorr, Founding Chairman of GORD, said, “Ensuring green credentials in mega projects like stadiums demands extraordinary levels of coordination to monitor numerous parameters. The sustainability milestone Al Bayt Stadium has achieved reflects hard work, commitment, innovation and a true spirit of the World Cup on part of SC and all project teams involved. What we are witnessing today is a product of well managed resources and forward thinking that has undoubtedly raised the bar set forth by FIFA.

With a strong cultural identity from the nomadic tent-inspired façade to a maroon arabesque inner membrane and seating reflective of sadu print, Al Bayt offers stark references to Qatar’s cultural legacy. It is then no surprise that the venue has already been acknowledged by the Experts Heritage Panel that awarded Al Bayt with the highest level of 3 for its alignment with Qatari culture. For the residents of Al Khor City, Al Bayt’s precinct features its own public park. Commenting on the recreational facilities circumventing the stadium, Dr. Alhorr said, “Al Bayt is an example of a stadium that benefits not just sports but the entire community around it. In many ways, it is a manifestation of the World Cup legacy before the World Cup.

With the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) endorsed as the official sustainability assessment system by FIFA, SC has so far received final sustainability certificates for four of eight World Cup venues, including Khalifa International Stadium, Al Janoub Stadium, Education City Stadium and Al Bayt Stadium.