World's largest dome roof at Singapore's National Stadium off to a good start

Arup, the global design, engineering and business consultancy, has commenced its design of the ultra-thin 310 metre wide steel dome roof for the new National Stadium at the Singapore Sports Hub.

Set to be the largest dome roof in the world, the simple geometric form of the new National Stadium will be juxtaposed against the inverted 'peaked' roof of the Singapore Indoor Stadium to create one of Singapore's most impressive skylines.

The dome will provide shade and shelter to the 55,000-seat stadium and surrounding non-ticketed community spaces and will be the only stadium in the world, custom-built to host football, rugby, cricket, and athletic events in one venue. The west end of the stadium which is open-ended, will provide breathtaking view across the city and provide the perfect setting for Singapore's own National Day Parade which is slated to be hosted annually in the stadium.

Clive Lewis, Arup's lead Sports Venue Designer for the Singapore Sports Hub explains "the tropical climate in Singapore poses a challenge in the design of the National Stadium. People will only enjoy the stadium experience if the environmental conditions are right. We wanted to keep the rain and heat out, but we also wanted it to be an open and dynamic space. After extensive research into comfort expectations and energy in use, we realised that a naturally ventilated stadium with localised cooling gave us the best solution for the local climate in Singapore. By incorporating a moving roof, the stadium will be further protected from the harsh climatic conditions, allowing events to be hosted during the hottest parts of the day."

The 20,000 metre2 moving roof will be clad in a multi-layer ETFE pillow and incorporate a matrix of LED lights, making it one of the largest addressable LED screens in the world.

The moving roof is supported by the fixed roof dome structure with a clear span of 310 metres. The architectural design and engineering of this structure was done using advanced parametric modeling software, as well as in-house software that Arup developed specifically for the project. This optimised information exchange greatly among the architects, engineers and contractors.

The result is a super-efficient shell dome structure, with a total steel weight of 8,057 metric tons. At a structural weight per square metre of just over 100kg/m2 , this would be considered efficient even for a roof that was half this span.

Mark Collins, Vice President and Managing Director of Global Spectrum Asia Pte Ltd (one of the eight project partners of the SportsHub Pte Ltd Consortium, which has four equity partners Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd, Infrared Capital Partners, UGL Services, and Global Spectrum Asia) adds "the construction of the National Stadium is the launch pad for many other key elements in the project. It will be Asia's only event site with the technology, capacity and services to cater to residents, overseas visitors, sports professionals and global artists 365 days a year."

To date, Singapore Sports Hub is the largest sports infrastructure Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) project in the world.

In line with Singapore Sports Council's Vision 2030 master plan, Sports Hub will offer one and all the opportunity and access to live better through sports. It will be a platform for national athletes to hone their sporting talents and inspire participation in sports among the community.

With local firm DP Architects as masterplanners, the Sports Hub is designed within a natural landscape that is linked to an island-wide park connector system and will be accessible to everyone and anyone 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Construction of the SportsHub is expected to be complete by 2014.

The importance of the Singapore Sports Hub to sport tourism in Singapore is explained in a feature in the September/October 2012 issue of Australasian Leisure Management.

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