Steel supports the large spans of the Stadium Abdoulaye-Wade de Diamniadio in Senegal, optimising the view from every seat
Istanbul headquartered firm, Tabanlioglu Architects, was charged with designing Stadium Abdoulaye-Wade de Diamniadio with the aim of making it Africa’s go-to venue for football and other international sporting events. Named after a former president, the Abdoulaye Wade stadium officially opened in 2022, just two years after construction began, and is preparing to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event to be held in Africa.
Located in the new city of Diamniadio, about 30 kilometres from the country’s capital Dakar, the stadium is designed to maximise the view from each of its 50,000 seats. To achieve this, Tabanlioglu Architects had to minimise the supports holding up the roof and steel was the best material for this. Sena Altundag, the research, publication and communication director of Tabanlioglu Architects, explains, “Circular hollow section (CHS) steel profiles were used in the facade and the roof to safely construct the large open spaces of the stadium. A series of steel beams and trusses are applied across the entire length and width of the stadium.”
To maximise the flow of natural light into the area, the roof is covered in a sun-permeable material, while the facade is enveloped in multilayered metal mesh panels to soften its edges. The colours, textures, motifs and forms used in the scheme were chosen to reflect the local culture.
All the facilities expected of a world-class venue
Meeting FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) standards for the African Cup of Nations, the Stadium Abdoulaye-Wade features upper and lower tiers, as well as luxury ‘skyboxes,’ a president box and a large VIP area. There are four changing rooms, a conference room, two training rooms and the main pitch area. To speed up entry and exit and reduce congestion, there are forty entrances to the stadium.
Solar panels cover the car parking area to help cost-effectively and ecologically supply some of the power used to run the stadium. Turkish-based construction company, Summa, was responsible for the build, which is reported to have cost around €230 million.
Steel is instrumental in most sports stadium designs. In an earlier feature, we highlighted how a ring of Y-shaped columns supports the awe-inspiring two-tier structure encompassing the world’s largest cricket stadium, the Narendra Modi Stadium in India. Altundag says steel lends itself to sports stadium design because: “To rationalize loading of the structure, to form the lateral force resisting system and to reduce the difficulty in fabrication and complexity in construction, the use of steel is critical.”
With the latest technological advances, we look forward to seeing how steel is used to create more environmentally friendly, ground-breaking sports spaces in the future.