The façade is being put in place, giving the stadium its distinctive "calabash" appearance. It is expected to be complete by June next year.
THE Soccer City calabash is taking shape. Work on the stadium's façade has begun and, already, a substantial portion has been fitted on to Africa's biggest football stadium.
Stan Aarts, the technical manager of Grinaker-LTA, the consortium tasked with the construction of the 95 000-seat stadium, says fitting the 30 000m² façade started in August this year and is expected to be complete by June 2009.
"The façade is made out of Fibre C panels and polycarbonate panels. Panels are placed in such a way and with such a colour and texture that they give the stadium the ‘calabash' appearance."
Aarts says 120 concrete and steel columns will hold the façade. "The lower elements of the façade are being held by concrete columns and the upper elements by curved steel columns."
The outer membrane of the stadium in divided into the roof section, consisting of transparent polycarbonate elements supported by 1 254 tonnes of A-frame steel structures, and the façade section, which is based on Fibre C glass fibre concrete.
Designed and constructed by European high-tech concrete architecture company, Rieder Smart Elements, and metal manufacturer, Valenta Metallbau, the façade will consist of eight different colours that will give a special African appearance.
The design was inspired by the calabash, and its aesthetic appeal will be heightened at night, when the stadium is lit up, resembling a traditional African cooking pot.
Soccer City Stadium will host the opening ceremony, and opening and final matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. It will also host four first-round matches, one second-round match and one quarter-final.
Joburg's other World Cup venue, Ellis Park Stadium, will host five first-round matches, one second-round match and one quarter-final.
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