Insertion of a sports complex, the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex, within a neighbourhood of mill workers in the industrial area of Ahmedabad aligned with Arya Architects’ practice that focuses on designing public urban spaces and institutions.
Project Name: Veer Sawarkar Sports Complex, Ahmedabad
Studio Name: Arya Architects
Design team: Vijay Arya- Project Architect, Urvi Sheth- Architect, Dhaval Limbachiya- Architect
Built up Area:8500 sq.mt .
Plot Area: 35700 sq.mt.
Initiation of Project: 2005
Completion of project: 2010
Location: Memco Cross Road, Naroda Road, Ahmedabad
Client: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC)
Project coordinator: PVK Rameshwar, CRDU, CEPT, Ahmedabad
Structure consultant: Samsarjan structure and design consultant
PHE consultant: Aqua Utility Designs and Management Pvt Ltd
Electrical consultant: Jhaveri Associates
Civil Contractors: P.C. Snehal Construction, Ahmedabad
Photograph credits: Cyrus Mobedji
Imagining it to be part of a larger social and civic infrastructure network within a regeneration discourse, the primary sports facilities program was reconstituted by adding a day care center encouraging women to participate, an internet café bridging technology gaps, a small auditorium for community events and a walking track, a public garden and a podium for rallies. Inclusion was not just a phrase, but was foreseen as actionable. The highly irregular shape of the site, with high-tension electricity lines limiting possible area for construction and existing trees were accommodated by a simple linear insert as an interphase. The building aligned with the open sports fields, its plinths providing places for seating for the viewers.
The architecture itself, of exposed concrete, softened with the openings, verandahs and woodwork was robust and sturdy to handle extensive wear and tear. The spatial quality and architectural resolution raised the benchmark for public spaces, giving dignity to the most marginalized citizens.
The project’s success comes from its extensive use and testament from the users for its user friendliness, ease of access, natural light and ventilation suitable for Ahmedabad’s climate, spaces that are able to accommodate the flux in users like the large verandahs. It continues to be a popular place for the neighbourhood.
Founded by Meghal and Vijay Arya in 2005 as a continuation of their practice, Arya Architects created a niche for itself early on by winning competitions and awards for institutions and public buildings. At Arya Architects, we mediate social relations, physical environs and abstract concepts by creating simple fluid spaces. Giving primacy to the context and people, each project is shaped by the idea of ‘appropriate’. Appropriateness is arrived through researching the brief, the site, the people who will inhabit the spaces and the context of the profession. Sensitivity to environment, people and place is inherent in each project, crafted in collaboration with construction processes. Over time, this approach has created diversity in the language of the office.
The office has spanned a range of works from the master plan of a zoological park, educational institutions, sports facilities to a small bus station. Their concern for architecture in the public domain emerges out of a critical discourse on quality, dignity and inclusiveness of the spaces
