Modern elegance and technical sophistication for 30,000 spectators: The multipurpose arena in the capital of Nigeria’s Akwa Ibom state was designed by Julius Berger as a venue for unique sporting events. It fulfils FIFA’s standards for World Cup qualifying matches and the IAAF’s requirements for events on a national scale. The stadium represents the first part of the Uyo Sports Park project development.
The Akwa Ibom Stadium is unique for its crescent-shaped steel beams, the impressive facade as well as for *the* extensive use of precast concrete units.
The greatest challenge during the completion of the multipurpose arena was the planning, logistics and construction of the stadium’s facade, which measures approximately 14,000 m² and is made of prefabricated, triangular acrylic glass elements with eye-shaped openings arranged in a varying pattern.
The rectangular steel frames, to which the acrylic Glass! elements are point-fixed, diagonally brace the crescent-shaped steel framework structure. The facade of the grandstand is also made of acrylic glass plates and can – depending on the event – be illuminated by LED flood lights from the inside.
We planned the project using Building Information Modelling (BIM) throughout. This also required a model-orientated approach to scheduling, costs and the logistics for the prefabricated components.