About Our Customer

Nestled between the modern skylines of Doha and the undulating waves of desert dunes, the new Al Rayyan Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium perfectly reflects the story of Qatar. The glowing façade beautifully represents the local culture and traditional values. Ready to open its gates to sports enthusiasts from across the globe, the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium will host FIFA 2022 World Cup matches.

The new Al Rayyan Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium was unveiled on Qatar’s National Day in 2020 with a lot of pomp and gusto. Apart from being visually stunning, the façade perfectly reflects Qatari life, making it culturally important as well. The geometric patterns created across the stadium mirror the beauty of the handicrafts native to the country. Our high performance glass panels have also ensured that fans get to enjoy every match and every historic moment in complete comfort.

• Developer: Supreme Committee for Legacy 2022
• Contractor: L&T and Al Balagh JV, Qatar
• Architects: Pattern Architect
• Façade Contractor: ALCE Engineering Qatar WLL
• Processor: FG Glass, India
• Glass: ClimaCool, Climaguard

The Need

It was important to keep the traditions of the local community alive while still creating an electric atmosphere, befitting a World Cup stadium. The entire stadium was built to showcase the journey of a caravan through the desert landscape. We had to keep this masterplan and the circular geometry of the building in mind while processing all the glass. Since the new stadium is erected above an older, much loved venue, we had to maintain the integrity of the arena. We were also tasked with processing the glass for all the interiors, right from the concession stands to the players’ locker rooms and the VIP and VVIP lounges and skyboxes. Our solutions had to provide both comfort and luxury. Finally, since this is the first ever FIFA World Cup to take place in West Asia, we had to keep the harsh weather conditions in mind and create panels with the lowest possible U value.

The Challenge

For this project, we worked with ALCE Engineering, a company known for its uncompromising quality and architectural marvels across Qatar. So, we had to keep the most stringent quality measures in mind at all times. Tasked with processing, delivering and installing the glass for the entire stadium, we worked with jumbo glass sizes. The panels weighed 800 kilograms, which made transportation and installation incredibly difficult and tricky.

The key challenges were to:

• Process jumbo glass panels with incredibly low U value
• Transport the panels
• Install panels into the stadium framework without compromising aesthetics

The FG Glass Solution

With our years of experience in glass processing, we were able to provide the client with a unique solution that met all their requirements. We processed extraordinary combination glass with a thickness of 56 mm. Each panel was made up of clear toughened glass, a PVB interlayer of 1.52 mm, an 8 mm SKN 154, a 20 mm stainless steel air spacer with a U insert, and 17.52 mm toughened laminated heat soaked tested glass. Some of the panels also had ceramic frit as the façade of the stadium had to reflect local flora, fauna, history and traditions. It took us just one year to process the glass as per the client’s unique requirements. The jumbo glass panels, each of which weighed 800 kilograms, had to be transported and installed with incredible care.

The FG Glass Advantage

Given our years of experience and expertise in glass processing, we could provide the client with a truly customized solution. Our partnerships with glass processors around the world helped us procure one of a kind stainless steel air spacers from Italy to reduce the U value of each unit. To transport the panels, we arranged for open top containers and specialized equipment. Given the weight of each panel, we knew we had to use specialized cranes for the installation process as well. We relied on our widespread network of partners across the globe to successfully complete the project within the given time.