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SPECIAL REPORT>MOSES MABHIDA STADIUM

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By

Sta

cey

Row

an Named after a hero of the working class, Durban’s

Moses Mabhida Stadium is an iconic symbol of where

the city has come from and the future that it is striving

towards. Just as Moses Mbheki Mncane Mabhida

helped to forge the united front that eventually saw

the creation of a democratic and non-racial South

Africa, so will the stadium bring together countries

at the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

An exterior view of the lit up stadium, which acts as a bright beacon for the city of Durban.

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We traditionally revere iconic buildings for their ability

to inspire and imbue symbolic associations and mean-

ing to a broad audience because they reflect unique

cultural, social and environmental contexts – be it the

past, current or future. The newly constructed Moses

Mabhida Stadium in Durban respects these qualities

and it references the past with dignity yet, it succeeds

best in the way it reflects the aspirations of the cur-

rent time and the future. It is strategically positioned

to become an iconic beacon for the City of Durban as

well as being a centre piece of the huge integrated

development plan which weaves itself into the city’s

landscape as a symbol of growth and prosperity. This

stadium successfully achieves this through the innova-

tive use of space, texture, colour and artifacts, whilst

also drawing on its surroundings and physical features

which give it a vernacular identity and character. Archi-

tectural and structural elements allow people to ‘feel

alive’ within its surrounds, inviting people of all walks

of life and binding them within an iconic web of space

and community.

“It is important to recognise that this stadium, an archi-

tectural joint venture, is a group effort. There were five

local practices: Theunissen Jankowitz Durban, Ambro-

Afrique Consultants, Mthulusi Msimang Architects,

NSM and Osmond Lange Architects & Planners and one

international practice involved, namely GMP. Each

practice fulfilled a different role. The local effort and

local expertise, merged with the international expe-

rience, made it all happen. The effort is reflected in what

was built and designed. From the urban design ap-

proach to the iconography, the stadium has a strong

local representation,” says Gerhard le Roux, director,

Theunissen Jankowitz.

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Iconography

From a distance, the stadium’s arch is a defining

silhouette, a familiar marker against the landscape.

From within, the arch forks on both sides, to create

a view of Durban, a window onto the city, symboli-

cally looking back at where the city has come from,

on the one side, and the future, on the other side.

“We wanted to create a timeless long arch which

represents the past and the walk into the future.

Once you are in the stadium you are aware of the sur-

rounding environment where the stadium is located,

by way of the stadium window on the south side. You

can see the connection between the sea, city and the

heart of Durban,” says Deon van Onselen, Director,

Osmond Lange Architects & Planners (Pty) Ltd.

The white tensile roofing is reminiscent of the ac-

tivities of the nearby harbour. The use of natural in-

digenous plants and trees links the precinct on an

urban scale and the incorporation of the African

landscape contextualises the building. The expanded

steel mesh wrapping the façade and the infill panels

of the balustrades is symbolic of the beauty of hand-

made baskets. The bare grey coolness of the off-shutter

concrete is contrasted by the palette of warm colours

used on infill walls and interiors – an expression of

the African climate and spirit.

Tones of the beaches, the colours of clothing and

handcrafted jewellery were used to express the vi-

brancy of the local surroundings in the building.

Brightly coloured seating, drawing its inspiration

from beach sand merging into the ocean, gives the

stadium bowl a sense that it is a landscape. The upper

stand seating is washed in yellow and white colours,

the middle seating is graded in a yellow to green

colour mix with scattered light greys and whites,

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and finally the lower stand seating is graded in a blue to

green mix sprinkled again with light greys and whites.

Drivers of design

Although stadiums are mostly venues of sheer scale,

they are considered singular purpose structures. Due to

the stadium’s sheer size, there was a need to ‘humanise’

the stadium in terms of scale, to allow for its integration

into the city fabric and landscape.

A driver of design for the Moses Mabhida Stadium,

was the need to encourage mixed use in order to

promote ongoing activities. From an urban design

point of view, it was of primary importance that the

stadium was located within an environment that

enables the broader city and surrounding area to

benefit from it. Therefore, one of the key drivers was

the need to design beyond the building. In order to

bring extensive investment into the precinct, the

stadium had to be designed accordingly in order to

serve as a catalyst for continuing investment.

Heroes walk – The iconic journey

A dominant path leading from the city centre to the

stadium, known as Heroes walk, lends itself to a variety

of processions that will be enjoyed by large groups in

the future. The walk starts in the south within a frag-

mented landscape of harsh walls and monochro-

matic tones, reflecting the fragmentation of past

Africa. This is the journey dedicated to the icons of

sport and political change, for those who have been

and for the heroes to be made within the stadium. The

rigid structure of the walk becomes more organic,

soft and colourfully adorned as one approaches the

stadium. The Heroes Walk is designed to symbolise

the journey walked by the people of Africa.

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A ‘world-first’ achievement

The Moses Mabhida Stadium has placed South Africa

on the map, having obtained a ‘World first’ in the design

of roof arch foundations, which involve diaphragm

walling to bedrock, massive cappings and springer

plinths. In addition, the stadium also achieved a ‘South-

African first’ for pre-cast design and installation in

stadiums and also achieved the specified strict re-

quirements for concrete quality, durability and aes-

thetics.

The main concrete structure comprises an oval bowl

of tiered seating with six access levels, sheer cores

and stairwells and a podium. The lightweight trans-

lucent roof is supported by a steel-cable structure

suspended from the arch. The remarkable 104m high

arch, spanning 380m, is secured on large concrete

foundations which extend down to the cretaceous

bedrock. These foundations are elongated rectangular

boxes with 800mm thick reinforced concrete walls,

which were excavated and cast under bentonite

slurry, in panel lengths of up to 7m and to a depth of

20m.

The stadium bowl structure is founded on a total of

1901 CFA piles varying in diameter from 450 to

700mm, installed to depths of 20m. “The bowl-like

shape of the stadium allows for all the spectators to

be able to see the action and feel that they are a

part of the whole event. Normal stadiums tend to be

more rectangular in shape, with Northern, Southern,

Eastern and Western sides. The client wanted all

people from different walks of life to become unified, to

become one form within this dome-like structure,”

says van Onselen. The

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The façade of the stadium bowl is a layered integrated

series of components. Over one hundred leaning pre-

cast concrete columns sweep around the circumference

of the stadium bowl forming the skeleton of the

façade, creating the impression of a sculptural element

in the landscape. Adding to the sculptural quality of

the building, aluminium fins sit vertically between each

of the concrete columns and, finally, a woven mesh ties

the façade together. The expanded metal mesh covering

the brightly coloured façade and the filling to the rail-

ings in the stadium take their inspiration from the

structure of basketweave.

“An important aspect of the stadium is that it is based

on the age old African tradition of elevating a structure

above ground level, whereby the stadium is placed

on a podium. By placing it on the podium, the stadium

is given greater stature. The client wanted the stadium

to rise up from the environment, creating an experience

as visitors lead up to the entrance of the stadium,”

explains van Onselen.

The roofing

The roof cables were pre-manufactured to the exact

lengths required to achieve the precise geometry of

the cable net structure that spans between the arch

and the compression ring. It was necessary to have

very strict specifications according to the tolerances

required for all support points at the interface be-

tween the concrete and roof structure. In addition,

the stiffness of the concrete support structure had

to be accurately determined.

The main structural unit of the roof consists of the

104m high arch spanning 380m onto the foundations.

The roof, which defines the stadium as an iconic edifice,

also consists of other structural elements namely sup-

porting cables, a membrane roof, and a steel compres-

sion ring resting on steel columns.

A total of 50 main ridge cables are supported from the

arch which defines the shape for the 46 000m2 roof

coverage. These ridge cables as well as the valley cables

are connected to the compression ring that in turn,

is supported on steel façade columns.

Concrete – The No.1 choice

Concrete was used for the majority of the structural

and architectural elements because of its high quality

finish, its ease of construction into complex shapes

and forms, durability to resist the marine environment

of Durban, its speed in construction, its low mainte-

nance and because of the economical advantages.

The concrete façade columns are the main feature of

the façade. Vertical in the vicinity of the North-South

spanning arch, they rake progressively outward to-

wards the East and West of the stadium, defining

the dramatic bowl shape. They are pre-cast concrete

from level 3 to level 6 and steel from level 6 up to the

compression ring. Of the 102 columns, 42 are vertical

and 60 are raked at varying inclinations. The columns

are painted white to fit in with the overall façade

colour concept, with a high level of finish.

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Vis

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SME Lightning Protection and Earthing was proud to

be associated with the celebrated Moses Mabhida

Soccer Stadium, in that they were contracted to install

the Lightning Protection to the Stadium Structure as

well as the earthing for the sub station feed. Overall,

it was imperative to ensure that the installation,

from the metal of the seating through to the arch

over the stadium, was earthed to the exacting stand-

ards demanded by the SABS/IEC codes of practice.

Due to the commitment and dedication to the project

displayed by Vusi Shabane, the team leader, and his

crew, no delays or problems occurred during the

course of the project. SME is currently in negotiation

with their client, GL Events, regarding the earthing

requirements for the media centres which are being

erected at each stadium, in order for media visitors to

be kept safe should they have the pleasure of expe-

riencing a real South African lightning storm.

SME, with 25 years in business, is still the only com-

pany in its field to have successfully held the coveted

SABS/ISO 9001-2000 listing in Southern Africa,

since 1987. As a result of this listing, as well as CIDB

accreditation, and their BEE status, they have suc-

cessfully undertaken contracts throughout Southern

Africa, and as far as Tanzania and Madagascar, with

extensive contracts in Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana

and Namibia. Their client base is largely made up of

corporate clients in the private sector, as well as

large government contracts such as 2010 Stadia.

A lo

w a

ngle

sho

t of

the

ext

erio

r fa

çade

.A

vie

w o

f th

e in

teri

or fa

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, wit

h it

s co

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Their core business of lightning protection and elec-

trical earthing, supplemented by their large range of

surge protective devices, is crucial in South Africa’s

subtropical climate, which experiences some of the

highest lightning activity in the world, resulting in

catastrophic losses in plant, equipment and personnel.

“This stadium looks beyond 2010. It looks at the

whole precinct and how this development will ‘sell’

Durban. This is one of the first opportunities that

South African consultants have had to prove that we,

as South Africans, can produce large scale projects.

The Moses Mabhida stadium is world class,” concludes

van Onselen. < BEL

OW

: An

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. RIG

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