17 December 2009
Just over a week after the successful hosting of the Final Draw for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, the “keys” to the brand new, completed Cape Town Stadium (Green Point Stadium) were handed over to the city’s executive mayor, Dan Plato, on Monday.
At a special ceremony to mark the completion of one of the world’s most spectacular stadiums, the keys were handed over by joint contractors Murray and Roberts and WBHO.
Construction of the 68 000-seater stadium started on 26 March 2007, and the project has been completed on deadline two years and nine months later.
In just 33 months, Murray and Roberts and WBHO completed the massive project at a cost of R4.4-billion (about US$600-million).
The project architects were an association between GMP Architects of Germany and two local firms, Louis Karol and Associates and Point Architects.
‘The Diva of Cape Town’
Design: the sweeping silhouette of Green Point Stadium has forever changed the face of the surrounding Green Point Common.
Enwrapped by a façade of woven fibreglass, coated with Teflon, it resembles a rose-coloured bowl floating on a base when lit up at night. The architects dubbed the stadium “the Diva of Cape Town”, reflecting the constantly changing moods of the city in varying weather conditions.
Roof: the design and construction of Green Point Stadium’s roof is unique. Its basic structure resembles a bicycle wheel, open in the middle, with 72 cables linking the outer and inner rings of the circle, which were slowly tightened to raise the roof from ground level to its present height.
Another first for the roof was the use of 16mm thick panels of glass to cover and protect the spectators from strong winds and rain. This will let in the light, while the ceiling panels underneath – made of woven PVC fabric – will soften the noise from within.
The stadium bowl: for the eight World Cup matches to be played at the venue, the stadium will have a seating capacity of 68 000, including 13 000 temporary seats, which will be removed afterwards. Features of the stadium are that it can be evacuated in 15 minutes and that all the spectators are close to the game.
Safety: spectators will be protected by a state-of-the-art camera surveillance system monitored by police from a venue operations centre inside the stadium, while pitch invasions will be discouraged by a wide moat around the circumference.
There will also be a police station inside the building to deal with hooligans and other criminals.
Quick facts
Source: 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa Organising Committee
