Populous' Fisht Olympic Stadium for Sochi Winter Games

Olympic stadiums are nothing new for Populous, the global practice known for designing some of the world's iconic sports venues.

With the Sochi Winter Olympics a few days away, we'll give a little headstart with a glimpse into Fisht Olympic Stadium -- which Populous was selected to design in 2009 -- before it makes its debut at the Opening Ceremony.

Although this won't be the same as being at the Games in person, check out some project details Populous shared.

Project description:

"Populous designed the master plan and overlay of the competition and non-competition venues and facilities for the Sochi Bid Committee for the 2014 Winter Games Bid. Populous worked closely with the Organizing Committee and International Planners to create the concept and design of the competition and non competition venues located in the Coastal and Mountain clusters. 

The elaborate jewel-encrusted Fabergé eggs that are a renowned Russian icon inspired the unique shell-like design of the Fisht Olympic Stadium. The venue features a translucent polycarbonate roof, which will be used to project vivid illumination shows during the Games, while also giving the venue an appearance of snowy peaks, ensuring it sits in harmony with the landscape of the Imeretinskaya Valley and the Caucasus Mountains."

"Russia’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics was part of a broader goal to step back onto the world stage as hosts of major sporting events (the country’s last event was the Moscow Summer Olympics back in 1980). The challenge was threefold: to convince the International Olympic Committee that Russia had both the vision and the infrastructure to host such a major event; to develop the popular summertime coastal resort of Sochi into a world class destination  for winter sports, and to design a stadium flexible enough to facilitate the Olympic ceremonies, then act as a venue for FIFA World Cup matches and, finally, become the home venue for a local football team."

"Populous, together with Buro Happold, created a roof structure and a floor structure underneath the field of play to facilitate a range of staging options, including the suggestion for the ability for a dramatic flying arrangement for the culmination of the opening and closing ceremonies [...]

We designed the lower seating tier to take on an extensive series of demountable structures including eight tunnels each nine metres wide and a fully demountable northern section of the lower tier to enable a large-scale staging operation in that section of the seating bowl."

"Our process of masterplanning begins with a long term legacy strategy as the starting point for creating vibrant and sustainable places within cities. We use sporting and entertainment venues as urban catalysts and develop the relationship between social infrastructure elements, and enhance them to add value and character to the urban realm."

Project data:

LOCATION  Sochi, Russia 
CLIENT  Olympstroy 
ARCHITECT  Populous 
CAPACITY  40,000 
EVENTS  Opening and Closing Ceremonies, 2018 FIFA World Cup (legacy mode)

All images courtesy of Populous.

Click the thumbnails below to see other Russian stadiums by Populous.