{"id":750697,"date":"2024-08-05T10:15:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T09:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=750697"},"modified":"2024-08-07T17:29:48","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T16:29:48","slug":"arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums","title":{"rendered":"Arup and BIG understood to be working on Saudi 2034 World Cup stadiums"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Nine new stadiums and four refurbished stadiums as part of Saudi Arabia\u2019s formal bid for the 2034 World Cup, submitted to football world governing body FIFA last week.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed New Murabba Stadium, understood to be designed by Arup, is a 46,010-seat arena located north-west of central Riyadh, in a new downtown area. It would host games in the group and round-of-32 stages.<\/p>\n<p>The Saudi 2034 bidding document says the design replicates the peeling bark of a native acacia tree and is intended to be used after the World Cup. It will sit alongside AtkinsRealis\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/exclusive-atkins-adds-giant-cube-shaped-tower-to-its-saudi-portfolio\">The Mukaab<\/a>, a mixed-use, cube-shaped 400m-tall skyscraper.<\/p>\n<p>Arup is also refurbishing the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, in Jeddah.\u00a0The 58,432-seater venue would host quarter final games in 2034.<\/p>\n<p>The NEOM stadium will be located in the Hidden Marina, the initial 2.3km-long section of The Line. The 46,010-capacity stadium would stand 350m above ground and would be used for group stage matches and the quarter finals.<\/p>\n<p>The AJ revealed last week that Populous is the architect of the planned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/populous-behind-plans-for-saudi-world-cup-2034-stadium\">92,000-seat King Salman Stadium<\/a>, in Riyadh, which will host the final of the 2034 tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Populous is also working on the under-construction Dammam Aramaco Stadium, which is due to host games for the 2027 Asian Cup, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/populous-unveils-first-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadium-proposal\">the Qiddiya stadium<\/a>, which was unveiled in February. The concept for Dammam was drawn-up by Foster + Partners.<\/p>\n<p>Other stadiums included in the Saudi World Cup bid include eight venues in Riyadh and four in the city of Jeddah. The country, since late last year, is the sole bidder for the tournament and is expected to be confirmed as host later this year.<\/p>\n<p>Practices accepting work in Saudi Arabia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/would-you-work-in-saudi-arabia\">continue to provoke debate.<\/a> The country has come under scrutiny for its human rights record including its treatment of women, restriction of free speech, and treatment of the LGBTQ community and other minorities.<\/p>\n<p>In May, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-and-heatherwick-defend-saudi-panel-appearance-after-neom-kill-order-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AJ reported<\/a>\u00a0that the RIBA and Heatherwick Studio had both defended their appearance on a UK-Saudi trade panel, following claims\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-middle-east-68945445\">in the national media<\/a> that Saudi forces had been permitted the use of lethal force to clear land to make way for The Line scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Qatar, the host of the 2022 World Cup, came under intense scrutiny over deaths and poor treatment of workers in the construction of new stadiums for the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>A report by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2021\/feb\/23\/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the\u00a0<em>Guardian<\/em><\/a> in 2021 put the total number deaths of migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at 6,5000 \u2013 far exceeding the three deaths admitted to by Qatar officials.<\/p>\n<p>Seven new stadiums were built for the Qatar tournament, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/qatar-world-cup-stadiums-carbon-emissions-vastly-understated\">criticised<\/a> by environmental groups for underselling the environmental impact of the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>The Saudi 2034 bid says holding the tournament will be an \u2018opportunity to showcase the country\u2019s commitment to environmental sustainability\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Arup, BIG and NEOM all declined to comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nine new stadiums and four refurbished stadiums as part of Saudi Arabia\u2019s formal bid for the 2034 World Cup, submitted to football world governing body FIFA last week. The proposed New Murabba Stadium, understood to be designed by Arup, is a 46,010-seat arena located north-west of central Riyadh, in a new downtown area. It would &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131789,"featured_media":750704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[101207,1959,1268,3982,2121],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Arup and BIG understood to be working on Saudi 2034 World Cup stadiums<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Saudi Arabia has unveiled designs for 15 stadiums for the 2034 World Cup, with Arup and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) understood to be involved\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arup and BIG understood to be working on Saudi 2034 World Cup stadiums\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Saudi Arabia has unveiled designs for 15 stadiums for the 2034 World Cup, with Arup and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) understood to be involved\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-05T09:15:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-07T16:29:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/08\/01142514\/hero-1024x682.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gino Spocchia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gino Spocchia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums\",\"name\":\"Arup and BIG understood to be working on Saudi 2034 World Cup stadiums\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-05T09:15:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-07T16:29:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/779aa0e54c8c20bf4509b8cce80c65b0\"},\"description\":\"Saudi Arabia has unveiled designs for 15 stadiums for the 2034 World Cup, with Arup and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) understood to be involved\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/arup-and-big-working-on-saudi-2034-world-cup-stadiums#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Arup and BIG understood to be working on Saudi 2034 World Cup stadiums\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News &amp; 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