Populous and Qualalou + Choi have won the contract to design the world’s biggest football stadium in Morocco ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Morocco’s National Agency for Public Facilities (ANEP) selected the consortium led by the two architectural groups to create a 115,000-capacity arena called the ‘Grand Stade de Casablanca stadium.’
Le cabinet d’architecture @Populous nous révèle plusieurs informations sur le Grand Stade de Casablanca:
🏟 La capacité du stade sera de 115K spectateurs ce qui en ferait le plus grand stade du Monde
🏟 Le stade sera sous forme d'une tente caïdale marocaine#YallaVamos2030🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/yEjNbEsjvR— Morocco First 🇲🇦 (@TheRealMarroqui) March 20, 2024
Populous and Qualalou + Choi to design world's biggest football stadium
ANEP set up an international design competition, which the likes of Herzog & De Meuron, Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Partners, Cruz y Ortiz, GMP Architects, and HPP Architects participated in. However, Populous and Qualalou + Choi were given the thumbs up ahead of all these other groups.
Morocco are the joint co-hosts for the World Cup in 2030. As part of their hosting responsibilities, Morocco has to build an entirely new stadium and upgrade six other arenas.
‘Embodiment of the great tradition of Moroccan hospitality’ – Winning design outlined
Populous and Qualalou + Choi said that their winning stadium design looks to embody traditional Moroccan culture while also maintaining a modern stadium feel.
Tarik Oualalou, design principal and founding partner at Oualalou + Choi and lead architect for the project, said: “The Grand Stade de Casablanca is deeply rooted in Moroccan culture, with its traditions and contemporary expressions. It is rooted in ancient and primordial figures: the Moussem, the tent, and the garden, as well as the topography and landscapes of Morocco.”
He added that the stadium will be “the embodiment of the great tradition of Moroccan hospitality.”
No images of the stadium design have been released yet, but it has been confirmed that engineering businesses Maffeis Engineering, ME Engineering, Rider Levett Bucknall, Momentum, and SEPSI will join the Populous and Qualalou + Choi team to build the world's biggest football stadium.