Inspired by the traditional dhow boats of the Arabian Gulf, Al Janoub Stadium is an architectural landmark that combines cultural heritage with state-of-the-art stadium design. Built as one of the host venues for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, the stadium features a striking retractable roof structure that reflects both innovation and engineering excellence.
PFEIFER Structures delivered a highly integrated lightweight structural solution for this iconic roof construction. As part of this organic structure works the retractable inner roof closes off the field of play from sun and rain on demand. Situated in garages to both ends of the stadium in open status, the membrane is pulled out alongside pretensioned cables. Arriving at the central steel girder, the roof membrane is tensioned into a stabilized ridge-valley-geometry. Both, moving and tensioning, are operated with winches. This fact and the non-parallel arrangement of the cables in vertical and in plane make this roof unique in the world. It requires the most exact tolerances for the structural elements and the most distinguished operation system for the large number of winches.
