Oualalou Group wins Casablanca contest

Article posted by Coliseum, March 19^th, 2024

Image: Tarik Oualalou Architecte

A group led by architect Tarik Oualalou has won the architectural competition for the design of the future Grand Stade de Casablanca in Morocco.

The winning group is led by the Moroccan architect Oualalou, with the eminent design firm Populous (Kansas City, US), ME Engineers Limited (global mechanical and electrical engineering design firm in London, UK), Maffeis Engineering S.p.A (Solagna, Italy), and England’s Rider Levett Bucknall UK Limited (global construction, property and management consultancy) forming the consortium.

La Vie Eco said that at the end of the first phase of the competition, the National Society for the Development and Management of Sports Facilities (Sonarges) had, in fact, selected seven bidders out of the 12 competing for the design, technical studies and monitoring of the construction work of the Grand Casablanca stadium.

Casablanca (Morocco)-based Sonarges is a body that manages and operates sports facilities. Sonarges is also known as the National Society for Stadium Delivery and Management.

The five other groups were ousted following examination of their administrative and technical files.

The Grand Stade de Casablanca is a proposed title of the planned football stadium to be built just East of Casablanca in Benslimane (City in Morocco).

Once completed in 2026, it will be used mostly for football matches and will serve as the home of the Morocco national football team. The stadium is planned with a capacity of 115,000 spectators, making it the largest stadium in Africa and the second largest in the world.

The Grand Stade de Casablanca is not just about football though, it is a symbol of Morocco’s ambitions on the global sports stage and a testament to the country’s commitment to enhancing its sports infrastructure.

Beyond serving as a venue for football matches, the stadium is envisioned as a multifunctional hub capable of hosting a variety of sporting events and activities.

The site chosen for the future stadium is located in the province of Benslimane, in the commune of Mansouria, 38 km from Casablanca, and 18 km from Mohammedia, near Benslimane airport. The site covers a very large area of 100 hectares.

The 100-hectare site offers enough room not just for the stadium but also for other associated facilities, potentially paving the way for a comprehensive sports complex.

The total cost of the project is estimated at around 5 billion dirhams ($500 million).

The future Grand Stade de Casablanca will be designed in accordance with the most recent requirements of international football, in this case the FIFA 2030 standards.

It is being built to host the 2030 World Cup, while six other stadiums are being upgraded, the Prime Minister’s Office said recently. These are located in the cities of Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakech, Rabat, and Tangier.

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