Construction of the Crystal Hall Baku in record time thanks to ArcelorMittal solutions

The venue of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku was built in a record time of only eight months. Designed by Gmp architects, this indoor arena was conceived as a modular construction. ArcelorMittal Construction International contributed with our innovative solutions for roofing, facade, and flooring.

Detailed information

The Crystal Hall is Baku's giant new landmark that rises on National Flag Square and overlooks the port of the city with its spectacular facade resembling the shape of crystals. With a length of 230 m and a width of 160 m, the arena has space for up to 25 000 spectators, protected from sun and weather by a transparent membrane roof.

Construction in a record time of only eight months

The construction time of just eight months (from September 2011 to April 2012) was a major challenge in the development of this sports and concert complex. Apart from efficient construction management and coordination, the modular construction (the building consists of three independent parts) and the selection of steel as the main construction material made it possible to finish this ambitious project in time for the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2012.

An economic solution for the roofing and cladding

The majority of the 7000 tonne steel structure was supplied by ArcelorMittal Rozak, Istanbul. In October 2011, ArcelorMittal Construction International (AMC-Intl.) was approached by a well-known Turkish steel fabricator to provide an economic solution for the roofing and cladding.

The most challenging requirements were its exposed position on a small peninsula in the Caspian Sea, creating wind speeds of up to 45 m per second, and the coordination of the design work, material procurement, and production that would allow sufficient time for the transportation of supplies by road on 90 trucks from Poland.

The overall order reached more than 60 000 m2 of ArcelorMittal Construction's GlobalRoof, GlobalWall, and GlobalFloor systems that were semi-designed and supervised by the AMC Poland / AMC Technical Team (with cooperation from Gmp architects) and fabricated by ArcelorMittal Construction in Poland in the Rawa and Świętochłowice plants.

The folded membrane structure enveloping the GlobalWall system consists of a total of 180 panels with more than 80 000 integrated LED lamps, giving the facade its unique, dramatic glow when illuminated at night.

GlobalRoof

The metal decking consists of Hacierco 160/250 x 1.5 mm HAIRPLUS-RAL 7016 (anthracite gray) spanned over 6 m and is 15% web-perforated for best acoustic performance, supporting the insulation and waterproofing of the roof.

GlobalWall

The facade is composed of a double skin system based on mineral wool insulated HACIERBA 150/600 x 1.25 mm liner trays reinforced in exposed areas by a light gauge steel profile. The external siding type HAIRPLAN in 200, 300 and 400 mm width and 1 mm thickness, colour coated in HAIRFLON 25-RAL 3003 (ruby red), is fixed by a special 'Hairplan System Rack' allowing fast and secure installation with just one click!

GlobalFloor

The different floors are designed as 'lost formwork' whereby the HACIERCO 135/310 x 1 mm and HACIERCO 160/250 X 1.25 mm metal decking support the wet concrete during the construction phase and has no additional function after the curing of the reinforced slab.

Project information

  • Baku
  • Azerbaijan
  • Sept 2011- April 2012
  • Architect:
    Gmp architects (Von Gerkan, Marg and Partner)
  • Client:
    State Commitee on Property Issues Azerbaijan
  • Engineering firm:
    SSF Ingenieure AG
  • Contractor:
    ALPINE Bau Deutschland & Nüssli (General contractor), Seele (Membrane facade)
  • Photo credits:
    ALPINE Bau, Andres Putting, Vugor Ibadov, & ArcelorMittal
  • Text:
    Peter Boehnlein (ArcelorMittal Construction International), Marek Szczęsny (ArcelorMittal Construction Poland), and Constructalia