Populous won the World's Best Sport Building award for South Africa's Soccer City Stadium, which hosted this year's FIFA World Cup final.

And it also picked up the ONCE prize for accessible design at the prestigious World Architecture Festival Awards in Barcelona.

A panel of judges, consisting of some of the world's most distinguished architects and renowned industry experts, stated: "The Soccer City National Stadium makes a strong and memorable connection with its place in history, the game and the future of this area.

"It is a genuine example of a building forming deep and lasting roots in its culture and giving a new exciting future to an otherwise rundown area, becoming instantly recognisable as the face of the South African Wold cup."

With its main form inspired by the traditional calabash, Populous and Boogertman and Partners have created an "African Pot" which is now recognised instantly by spectators in every corner of the world and has already become a cultural signifier of the new South Africa and the FIFA World Cup.

Damon Lavelle, project architect, who received the award, said: "We are delighted to receive this prestigious award which recognises the outstanding achievement of the joint Populous/Boogertman team in designing the main stadium for the 2010 FIFA world Cup.

"The stadium is already providing a lasting cultural and sporting legacy for the people of Johannesburg, South Africa and Africa generally."


Populous also celebrated its other success, with the new Aviva Stadium (pictured) in Dublin being awarded the inaugural ONCE prize for accessible design.

The stadium, - previously called the New Stadium at Lansdowne Road - is the first truly site-responsive stadium of its kind in the world.

Its organic form, mass, materials and aspect are defined by the site and its surrounds.

The site, in the residential district of Dublin 4, is the historic home of international rugby and football in Ireland where the first game of international rugby was played in 1876.

The stadium has been designed to be accessible for people with mobility difficulties, particularly those in wheelchairs, and for people with impaired sight or impaired hearing.

Ben Vickery, senior principal, said: "We are delighted that Aviva Stadium won the accessibility award.

"This is part of a Europe-wide improvement in the standards of accessibility of sports buildings and shows the commitment of the whole team to achieve this.

"We hope that everyone will enjoy soccer and rugby together."

Aviva Stadium, designed by Populous and Scott Tallon Walker, was also highly commended in the Sport category awards.