A badly maintained stadium was erected in the 1960s, the Gaddafi Stadium. For the outside, red brick was used with a concrete frame and concrete interiors. When the 1996 Cricket World Cup was set to be hosted in Lahore, Pakistan, the concept for a stadium renovation was born. It was considered for the Pakistan Cricket Board to construct a new stadium for the event, however, the Pakistan Cricket Board was short on cash and the tournament was rapidly approaching. In order to save costs and time, it was decided to rebuild and enlarge the existing stadium. A gallery on the building’s façade was necessary as part of the plan. In addition, the stadium had to be technologically upgraded to host the World Cup matches. Only 15 percent of the 30,000 people who could fit in the original seating arrangement had individual seats; the remainder sat in tiers. In order to achieve a seating capacity of 35,000 people, the design team had to include at least 60% individual seats (eventually the whole stadium was developed with individual seats). There was a need for locker rooms, warm-up spaces, and gyms for both the visiting and home teams. In addition, press rooms for 400 persons and 30 modest hospitality rooms were requested. Additional facilities, such as bathrooms and ticketing spaces, are included in the plan. There is a retail gallery on the outside of the building.
The building’s fundamental form is a 260-meter-diameter circular layout. Redbrick encircles the building’s perimeter. Ground-floor retail spaces may be found in an arcade running around the circumference of the building. Each entrance is marked by two towers. Ticket counters and restrooms may be found in the towers. The stadium’s towers form a stark contrast to the stadium’s periphery. A unique steel structure was designed to provide shade for the dining areas. To begin with, there is a 20-meter-long space frame with a semicircular cross-section. Concrete columns support the rear of the frames, which are then coated in fiberglass. Traditional features were included in an otherwise contemporary building style by the architect. Because the internal design was predetermined by the building’s initial plan, the architects’ contributions were mostly superficial. Brick walls with reinforced concrete columns and steel components for the arcades make up the stadium’s main construction. Stepped reinforced concrete slabs form the sitting area. The infill is composed of handmade clay bricks, while the outer walls are built of exposed red brick and cement mortar. Ceramic tiles are used in the dining areas, whereas terrazzo tiles are used throughout the stores. The forecourt was laid up with interlocking concrete stones.