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The entire complex is a horizontal band of exposed concrete wherein voids and niches straddle a glass transparence.

Ground Floor Plan

The movement is clear and easy with direct access to all activities.

Formidable looking owing to the solidity of concrete, the project hints at playfulness through graphic murals.

The building tapers to a point at the end of the concrete spectrum where all the spectator seating for various courts and the football field are located.

At the main entrance, wooden benches are ringed around columns making way for more communal spaces.

Elements like circular cutouts and skylights play an aesthetic role in the Complex.

Angular and tectonic, the flexibility of concrete and colours infuse warmth to the place.

The Swimming Pool is covered by a parabolic roof.

The solidity and stability of concrete merges creative identities with glass to render a spirited atmosphere.

The entire complex is a horizontal band of exposed concrete wherein voids and niches straddle a glass transparence.

Ground Floor Plan

The movement is clear and easy with direct access to all activities.

Formidable looking owing to the solidity of concrete, the project hints at playfulness through graphic murals.

The building tapers to a point at the end of the concrete spectrum where all the spectator seating for various courts and the football field are located.

At the main entrance, wooden benches are ringed around columns making way for more communal spaces.

Elements like circular cutouts and skylights play an aesthetic role in the Complex.

Angular and tectonic, the flexibility of concrete and colours infuse warmth to the place.

The Swimming Pool is covered by a parabolic roof.

The solidity and stability of concrete merges creative identities with glass to render a spirited atmosphere.

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Far away from the hustle-bustle of the busy city of Ahmedabad, Veer Sawarkar Sports Complex, an expanse of 8500sqm, is almost invisible to the public eye; its interiors secretly unfolding. Setting a trend of speculative futures amidst a growing industrial segment of the city, the Sports Complex “was taken as an initiative to pump in development in that area”. The challenges started at the initiation of the project, as the architects put it, “In this case, we were dealing with a site that tended to walk around Ahmedabad. The project, before starting construction had changed site three times across the city.” It deftly imposed an engaging personality over standardised government requirements.

Innovations in this building do not talk about their ideas but the absence of them in the building of civic services in the present day.  The prose is about light and shade, material selection, capturing views, tweaking the program to portray the relevance of architecture. A rebellion to absolute generalisation of the program of a sports facility resulted in an altogether deviant vision. The agenda stretched to include more for the community; spaces like childrens’ crèche, a restaurant, a library, an internet cafe, an auditorium, conference rooms and a public garden.

Modernist in appearance, the gate unexpectedly whimsical—a pivoting concrete plate with two wooden cylinders for handles, swings open to offer a glimpse of concrete walls winding down at a distance. The offset of the building owing to high tension lines cutting across the site. A serenity envelops the front space which was allocated for as a public park with axial placing for lush green intrusions—parking on one side while the other leads to an amphitheatre at the far end. The open are integrates path for morning walks, jogging area, lawn and area for public gatherings like marriage functions. A thin, tendril of a road for service of the High Tension Tower separates the main structure from the series of managed frames of concrete that form the amphitheatre. Free standing walls and benches align next to the steps. Alighting these steps, one can oversee the Amphitheatre, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts.

As the eye travels to the two-storeyed main structure, the immensity of the view suspends one in the act of arriving; the comparatively exposed building peeks out through steps and voids. Slabs warp inwards to accommodate trees. The entirety was built in phases, A to E block, relative to the expansion joints and the functionality within.  Two entrances slide along the picture frame. Wooden benches are ringed around huge columns in the entrance porch. The west-facing entrance leads to the reception—a patch of multiplicity suspended in the same relationship to multiple avenues; be it the Player’s lounge, auditorium, upto the courts or to the administrative blocks on the upper level. The ground floor drops dramatically between levels to unfold variegated things. Slow stairs descend to two separate flights to the auditorium. The interiors explode in textural finishes, with ribs carved out of wood, weaving in and out purposeful towards an acoustic and aesthetic understanding. The seating holds a capacity of 166 people.  A textual graphic on translucent glass obscures the players’ lounge that overlooks the football field. Along the same plane, seating spaces, badminton courts and circular cut-outs are arranged sequentially tapering gently to a singular point. The end being the apex is framed in the E-bock. At this end, a restaurant projects over the pavilion on the first floor. Its vistas of the field being captured through latticed trusses, placed in order to make the seating and changing room areas beneath column-free. The restaurant is cool, crisp and clean. Sun rays send lines and hues of blue to colour in the white ceiling.

The added celebratory facet being cloth chandeliers that diffuses light in. The planning directs one towards the indoor facilities. Panelled glass screen the gym in the interiors while a Card Room across the corridor dissolves as a routine element. Open corridors walk alongside the Badminton Court, ferreting the Court with glimpses from the Card Room, Administration and the corridors. It is sparse but the uses of colours provide the added architectural eye. A circular cutout located midway, slants in light adapted towards to the Squash Court tucked in the basement.  The administration, away from the view on the second floor, admits an ideal viewing profile. The seclusion comprises of VIP lounge, a conference room and office space.

The classic plan breaks away from the main building to bring forth a different wing. The wing is lofty and connected by a singular beam to the main structure—evoking a double cube. An access for high-end chief guests is waylaid by its side. These officials can gain special entry to a VIP Resting Lounge which opens up to a Pavilion from wherein they can address a public announcement. The approach for the rest of the space is simple. A Creche is executed in the same honesty of the material. It settles into the program with the concrete neutrality sculpted to form slides, swings etc. The dynamic fractal pattern of the wooden cylinders that played a identifiable role in the BRTS Bus Station and the entrance gates are translated inventively into an abacus for the children’s zone. The exclusive vibrancy is read clean and clear through apt use of clocks, colours and glass brick partitions in the space. Overall, the scale threads the dialogue.

Beyond the Creche, a parabolic blue roof arches over the horizon. Cantilevered and connected, the fibreglass roof bathes the swimming pool beneath it in light. A blue wall with square slits; concrete boards and glinting steel fish graphic dictate the design elements of the space.

The building is a horizontal stretch of exposed concrete—formidable but infused with transparence and light. The walls are recombinant cavity walls, with concrete on the outside and brick inside. Wrapped in a grey tone, the materialistic thought drives the stability, style and confidence of the place; moreover, it acts against recurring vandalism in such places. It is honest, uncluttered architecture, with a distinct approach and a hint of playfulness by selective use of wood and colour. The details key everything into place teeming with memorable events and spaces. The rhythm is elementary with the intent of the architects clearly captured in their words, “Most importantly, the quality of spaces, the human scale raised the benchmark for public spaces, giving dignity to that cross section of society which otherwise get ignored.” 

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