The site is part of a series of valley formations to the North of Jericho, Palestine. A challenging 50,000 sq. m steep site with the difference in elevation reaching a maximum of 40m, at a maximum slope of approximately 25%, the site’s topography of the site posed a challenge that became one of the main drivers in the design process for Jericho's sports city.
The site’s topography allows for a rare condition where the stadium can be accessed at street level, allowing visitors to see through into the field and the view in the distance as they enter. This provides an exciting “open stadium” experi-ence as opposed to the typical condition in which visitors enter from behind the bleachers.
A Vertical Landscape concept negotiates the slope via a series of themed platforms. The site’s landscaping strategy relies mainly on the use of retaining walls to mitigate the site’s topography, creating a variety of flat platforms in different sizes to house the required sports fields. The landscape strategy also aimed to balance the amount of site cut and fill, provide adequate and varied vertical circulation methods between platforms at different levels (Vertical Landscapes), provide a variety of landscape typologies to cater for different activities, and use sustainable and native plant species.
A Porous Geometry generates and unifies the built elements: the stadium, the swimming pool, the hotel, and the conference centre. A modular system is introduced to form a permeable façade and structural system to enhance the concept of an open stadium, allowing visual as well con-trolled physical connectivity between the inside and outside. The modules can have an area enough to house kiosks and retail facilities.