Narendra Modi Stadium Roof Design

The global Walter P Moore team combined industry-leading expertise in the structural design of major sporting venues and long-span roof structures with India-based experience and familiarity with local practices and codes. The project was design-built on an accelerated schedule by India’s top contractor, Larsen & Toubro, resulting in its inauguration by Prime Minister Modi upon completion.

The complex includes an indoor cricket academy and dormitory for up to 40 athletes housed within the stadium podium, providing access for students from across India and the globe. Among its amenities are 76 corporate boxes, four team dressing rooms, and three practice grounds.

To provide rain and sun protection for fans, the stadium features a translucent circular PTFE fiberglass tensile membrane roof that cantilevers 30 meters from a perimeter steel tension ring of planar trusses. The elegant and durable roof structure defines the architectural motif of the stadium and reflects heat to provide a comfortable environment for spectators, even during the hottest summer matches.

A circular system of giant diagonal pipe columns supports the roof and provides lateral strength during earthquakes. Although the compression ring around the perimeter of the roof was imagined by the concept design team as a tri-chord truss of steel pipes, Walter P Moore instead proposed a superior bi-chord ring that realized significant savings in both material costs and erection time, while streamlining the overall look.

Because the roof structure will structurally behave substantially differently from the cast-in-place concrete grandstand during earthquakes, Walter P Moore completely separated them. This approach precluded a special Performance Based Design process, which greatly simplified the design and code approval processes and crucially sped construction.

As Larsen & Toubro prepared their bid in pursuit of the project, they challenged Walter P Moore to accurately estimate the required structural quantities using only conceptual documents. Drawing on our extensive experience, we were able to accomplish that in just two weeks and our estimate of the required steel tonnage proved to be extremely accurate. The steel required by the final design was within a few percentages of our early estimate tonnage, confirming that the contractor’s bid was both adequate and competitive.

Walter P Moore’s light steel roof minimized structural materials, maximizing sustainability. We also reduced transportation energy costs by specifying structural pipe elements that could be fabricated within India. The stadium opened on schedule in February 2021 amid great public celebration and is a source of pride for the entire country.