A new 20,000-seat arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will feature a first-of-its-kind scoreboard that can be reconfigured depending on the event taking place there.
As reported by Venues Now, the $1 billion arena, designed by HKS, is expected to break ground in late summer and open in 2026. It will serve as the centerpiece of Diriyah Gate, a massive $63 billion mixed-use development, encompassing retail, hotels, restaurants, an art museum, opera house, a grand mosque, exhibit hall, housing and a small amphitheater.
Though no sports tenants are lined up for the arena at this time, the vision is for the venue to play host to international competitions, whether it’s basketball, hockey or other Olympic sports. HKS’ design is focused on programming for 70 percent live entertainment and 30 percent sports, Don Muret of Venues Now reported.
"With concerts dominating the calendar, the typical centerhung board used for sports would split into smaller pieces to accommodate events of all sizes, given that touring artists typically bring their own video productions," Muret wrote. "The four panels making up the centerhung will be assembled on tracks along the roof line as part of a mechanized system that allows each panel to move independently, whether it’s to the sides or the ends of the arena, Thomas said. They could also pivot 360 degrees to face different directions."
“We’re designing a whole new city, basically, without knowing who the tenants will be, and have designed the arena to be as flexible as possible,” HKS principal and design director Alex Thomas told Venue Now. “We also wanted to introduce opportunities for creative use of digital media and come up with a new scheme to serve the standard configurations for sports with the ability to reconfigure space for the client. It’s all about adaptability, to load and create an LED backdrop for a small concert by a local performer or an esports event.”
