Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium
Project Details
Location: Dubai, UAE
Completion Date: 2007
Size: 20,000 m2
Fabric: PTFE - TiO2 Treated
The concept design for the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium had been prepared by the German team of GMP Architects and Schlaich Bergerman and Partners (SBP) Engineers. Construction of the stands had already commenced when the roofing tender was issued.
The Taiyo Kogyo Corporation gathered together a global working group, with project management by Taiyo Middle East, Engineering by MakMax Australia and Fabrication by Taiyo Kogyo in Japan. Taiyo submitted a conforming tender, but the returned tenders were well over the client’s budget. A meeting was held in which the client asked for alternative designs to be presented that may be closer to their budget.
Taiyo presented an alternative design that more than halved the weight of steel in the proposed roof and dramatically reduced the complexity of the fabric and cable components.
While some of the original architectural aesthetics were compromised, the end result is still an eye-pleasing, lightweight tensile membrane roof design that protects spectators from direct sunlight.
The Materials
Now known as Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium was one of the first uses of the TiO2 (titanium dioxide) treated PTFE fabric outside of Japan.
“The titanium dioxide helps decompose dirt on the membrane surface,” said Mike Lester, MakMax Australia’s director of engineering. “The reaction of titanium dioxide generates active oxygen on the surface of the membrane using radiation from the UV rays in sunshine and the organic matter [dirt] that is built up on the surface. Nitrogen oxides are then decomposed through natural oxidation reduction and the decomposed dirt is then washed off by the rain.”
The Result
Dubai International Cricket Stadium has gone on to become a well-known global cricket stadium, hosting numerous Asian Cup finals and the final of the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
For more, checkout the article from Arabian Business from 2007.
