The 3rd Qatar 2022 World Cup stadium will have temperature controlled pitch

The 2022 World Cup is going to be held in Qatar (well, maybe) and we have already seen the designs for two of the stadiums, the Al Wakrah and the Al Bayt. Now a third has been revealed and this is the existing Khalifa International Stadium, which will receive a makeover to bring it bang up to date and feature technology that will keep the pitch temperature controlled.

[Image Source: Qatar Supreme Committee For Delivery & Legacy]

The Khalifa International Stadium was built in 1976 and underwent restorations in 2006 when the Asian Games were held. The first of the stadiums for the 2022 World Cup should be completed by 2016 and the IAAF Athletics World Championships will be held there in 2019.

[Image Source: Qatar Supreme Committee For Delivery & Legacy]

The stadium is going to be able to hold 40,000 people and it will feature a single undulating roof that is able to cover all the seating inside the stadium. Along with offering some welcome shade from the hot sun, the roof will offer other means of keeping people inside cool.

[Image Source: Qatar Supreme Committee For Delivery & Legacy]

The Khalifa International Stadium will be temperature controlled by cooling the air inside. Large chillers will be installed that will pump cool air into the top tier stands, with the roof being able to contain the cool air and direct it efficiently. The air will travel down over the lower tiers and to football pitch level, with the warm air being displaced. The temperature on the pitch itself will be what is said to be an optimal 26 degrees Celsius.

[Image Source: Qatar Supreme Committee For Delivery & Legacy]

While this would seem to be somewhat of an energy hungry approach to keeping the stadium cool, it has been designed to reach targets of LEED Gold sustainability along with GSAS 4 Star. How the stadium will achieve this hasn’t been revealed at the moment but what was said was that the transport for the public to get them to and away from the stadium would assist with reaching these goals.

[Image Sources: Qatar Supreme Committee For Delivery & Legacy]