The Hamdan Sports Complex was one of the most unique and character-building projects John has ever worked on. The project began as an invited international architectural competition for a swimming facility to host the World Swimming Championships 2010 in Dubai.

The competition was won with a beautiful and highly flexible design proposal, which initially included the world’s first fully flexible 100m swimming pool. Over time, this ambitious feature was refined into a series of more traditional but still world-class facilities.

The original project brief envisioned:

A 50m competition pool.
Seating for 3,000 spectators.
A facility designed as an oasis in the desert, located beside a new bypass road under construction.

However, the client’s requirements quickly expanded to:

5,000 spectator seats, then ultimately 15,000 seats.
Two 50m pools.
A unique back-to-back diving performance and training facility.

One of the key innovations was the ability to quickly drain and repurpose the pools. The 3,750 tonnes of pool water could be pumped into storage tanks beneath the energy center, allowing the venue to be converted into a dry sports floor for other events, maximizing its usage.

Since its completion, the Hamdan Sports Complex has remained the leading sports venue in the Middle East, hosting elite swimming and sporting events every year.

Today, it continues to be the world’s largest-capacity swimming and sports venue, setting the benchmark for aquatic centers worldwide.