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The design contract has been inked with GMP International and the engineering contract has been awarded to Khatib & Alami.

According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, there are now $2.8bn-worth of sports projects planned or under way in the kingdom.

Sports developments

Germany’s Gerkan, Marg & Partners (GMP) has previously worked on stadium projects in the Middle East. It was the designer of the 25,000-seat cricket stadium at Dubai Sports City (DSC), which opened in 2009. It was also the architect for the 60,000-seat general sports stadium at DSC. That project was cancelled during the global financial crisis of 2007-08.  

Khatib & Alami has also worked on stadium projects in the region. In 2014, it was one of the firms appointed by Saudi Aramco to provide project management services for the development and construction of 11 stadiums.

Those stadium plans, which were cancelled in 2015, covered projects in Medina, Al-Qassim, the Eastern Province, Asir, Tabuk, Hail, the Northern Borders, Jizan, Najran, Baha and Al-Jouf.

A major new stadium opened in the Jeddah area in 2014. UK-based Arup designed the 60,000-seat stadium at King Abdullah Sports City. The contractor was a joint venture led by Belgium’s Six Construct, which was awarded an estimated SR2bn ($533m) construction contract in 2011.

The stadium at the Jeddah Central project is one of four major landmarks planned for development. The other three are a museum, an opera house and an oceanarium.

JCDC said in June that US-based SOM had been appointed as the architect for the oceanarium and coral farm building at the Jeddah Central project. JCDC, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, is the project client.