Populous Unveils 70,000-Seat Rach Chiec Stadium for Vietnam

Architecture studio Populous has unveiled its design for Rach Chiec Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, a 70,000-seat venue that will become Vietnam's national stadium and the largest in the country.

Set to be built on the outskirts of the city, the stadium will hold around 30,000 more seats than the current record holder, the Mỹ Đình National Stadium. Populous describes it as the future flagship of Vietnamese sport.

The building takes its visual identity from its surroundings. A diamond-patterned facade wraps the stadium, a form the studio says was informed by the shape of Nipa Palms that grow alongside rivers in the area.

A fully retractable roof will cover the venue. According to Populous, the roof allows the playing area to be environmentally controlled while also shielding surrounding residential areas from noise — an unusually explicit gesture toward the stadium's neighbours on the city fringe.

Rach Chiec Stadium is designed to host team sports such as football, but its ambitions extend further: Populous says it can accommodate "90 per cent of Olympic sports." The project forms part of a wider national plan to upgrade Vietnam's sporting facilities with the aim of hosting major events, including the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Cup and potentially a future Olympics.

The stadium will anchor the 200-hectare Rach Chiec National Sports Complex, masterplanned by Populous, which will also include an 18,000-seat arena.

"The stadium and arena design are informed by the masterplan for the entire precinct, providing anchors for a park-like experience, supported by commercial offerings and activations," said Populous senior principal Andrew Tulen.

"We are focusing on making the venues accessible, well connected and flexible to provide a variety of experiences for all demographics," Tulen added.

The commission consolidates Populous's position as one of the world's most prolific stadium designers. The studio is currently designing a stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays professional baseball team in the USA and a new stand for Wrexham AFC in the UK, the club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Its current renovation portfolio spans three continents. Populous is renovating the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata — the "home of Indian cricket" — Estádio da Luz in Lisbon for Benfica, and the King Fahd Sports City Stadium in Riyadh. Earlier this year the firm completed the Buffalo Bills' new Highmark Stadium in New York.

For Vietnam, the stakes are infrastructural as much as architectural. A 70,000-seat, fully roofed national stadium with Olympic-level flexibility would give the country a venue capable of competing for regional and global sporting events that its current inventory cannot host. Whether that translates into a successful bid for the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Cup or an eventual Olympics will be the measure of the project's ambitions.