Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy has awarded local HBK Contracting Company the enabling works contract for Al-Wakrah stadium, one of the host venues for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

The enabling works phase, which will begin in May, is scheduled to conclude around March 2015. The contract entails bulk earthworks including site clearance, excavation and disposal, fill, as well as underground services and stadium foundations.

Foundation works will be marked by a ceremony in September followed by the announcement of the main construction company at the end of the year.

“We are excited to announce the next stage of works for Al-Wakrah Stadium and look forward to continued progress on the ground this year,” said the committee’s secretary-general, Hassan al-Thawadi. “The stadium and surrounding precinct will leave a social legacy in Al-Wakrah and by appointing HBK, a Qatari company, we aim to also contribute to the economic legacy of the Fifa World Cup in Qatar.”

The stadium will have the capacity to seat 45,000 people during the tournament. The top-tiers of the stadium will be modular and, following the tournament, the capacity of the stadium will be reduced to 20,000, with 25,000 seats removed. The plan is for these seats to be donated and re-constructed in developing countries.

In May 2013, Aecom was appointed design consultant and the local office of Kuwait-based KEO Consultants as project manager for the Al-Wakrah stadium project.

Doha had initially planned to spend $4bn on building nine new stadiums and expanding its existing Al-Rayyan, and Al-Gharafa stadiums, as well as Khalifa Stadium for the tournament.

However, Qatar’s organising committee for the tournament recently stated that it is considering reducing the number of proposed host stadiums to an amount that better reflects the “size of the country”.

The committee will submit its proposal for the number of host venues to Fifa by December 2014, with approval expected to be given by March 2015.

In early April, Qatar awarded the first World Cup stadium construction contract to a joint venture of Belgium’s Six Construct and the local Midmac Contracting Company.

The estimated $300m contract involves upgrading the existing Khalifa Stadium and increasing the seating capacity of the stadium to 60,000, from the current 45,000. The 24-month contract will also include the renovation of the museum at the surrounding Khalifa Sports City.

The consultant is Lebanon’s Dar al-Handasah. The client is Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence.

In February this year, Qatar appointed US-based Aecom as project manager and Denmark’s Ramboll as design consultant for the Al-Rayyan stadium.

On 5 May, MEED reported that the organising committee for the tournament has invited consultants to express interest in project managing the construction of three stadiums, including the flagship Lusail stadium.

In April, the committee invited architects to submit designs for the Lusail stadium in mid-May. It is understood that about four leading international design firms will submit proposals for the stadium, which will be used for the World Cup final in 2022.

The design competition will replace an earlier tender the committee decided to scrap because the designs for the stadium did not adequately reflect Qatari design and culture. To ensure the fresh design meets expectations, architects will attend workshops with the committee ahead of the mid-May deadline.

US-based CH2M Hill is the programme manager for the stadiums.