Veer Sawarkar Sports Complex

Ahmedabad, India

Photo © Cyrus Mobedji

Photo © Arya Architects

Photo © Cyrus Mobedji

Architects: Arya Architects

Location: Memco cross road, Naroda Road, Ahmedabad, India
Year: 2010

Veer Sawarkar Sports Complex is located in the eastern part of Ahmedabad, which is largely an industrial area. Full of sick, textile mills, the city has taken an initiative to pump in development in that area, resulting in the building of civic services of which this complex is one. Going to the site, we felt that the vision of the project could not be complete by just providing a few sporting arenas. It had to come together as something more inclusive for the community. The program eventually included a children’s crèche, a restaurant, a library, an internet café, an auditorium, some conferencing, an amphitheatre and a public garden.

And then, in the architecture, it was built robustly, to handle all kinds of wear and tear. 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. The project has a great variation in scales, from those for small children to those for large games. Since its inauguration, the project is extensively used, not only for neighbourhood activities, but also city scale public activities.