Saudi Arabia has unveiled the Populous-designed King Salman Stadium, a 92,000-capacity facility in Riyadh for football matches and entertainment experiences.
The year-round facility, scheduled for completion in late 2029, will be the largest-capacity stadium in the kingdom, and one of the world’s largest sports venues.
It will serve as the main headquarters for the Saudi Arabia national football team. It will host games at the 2034 World Cup, as well as other sports and entertainment events.
Located on King Salman Road, the main stadium will serve as a community space and a world-class sports hub for Riyadh. It will include internal screens, gardens, and a walking path on its roof with panoramic views of King Abdulaziz Park.
The wider development will include commercial facilities, football training fields, fan zones, an aquatics centre with an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and an athletics stadium. Additionally, it will include an indoor sports hall and community sports park.
Shireen Hamdan, general manager of Populous KSA, said the masterplan is “an innovative, iconic destination that will harmoniously blend the realm of sports with the beauty of nature”.
“Beyond creating advanced sports facilities, the development aims to unite athleticism and the environment, inspiring all who engage with it,” she added.
Mark Craine, senior principal at Populous and lead architect for the project, said: “Populous has brought the full weight of its 40 years of global expertise in stadium design to bear on this ambitious project for a new world-class national stadium in Saudi Arabia.”
New sporting hub for Riyadh
He added: “It has been designed in full compliance with FIFA standards, meaning that it can host matches at the highest level of international tournament football, while offering the flexibility to accommodate a variety of event types.
“The stadium will integrate seamlessly with the wider masterplan blending architecture with landscape, and landscape with architecture to create a new sporting hub for Riyadh.”
Populous is designing several key stadiums to host games at the 2034 World Cup, including the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium at Qiddiya and Aramco Stadium.
Images courtesy of Populous
