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Pushing the Barriers of Excellence – Padukone Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence, Bengaluru

By: Anup Naik & Ramakiran Bhat, Space Matrix Group

As an athlete is always taught to push barriers, break their own limits and focus on excellence, the idea of crafting a facility which would provide, recognise and support all aspects of sports was envisioned. The concept of ‘infinity’ fit apt for this facility which resulted in the unique form of the hall of fame. The two strong diagonal volumes sprouting upwards, creating a perfect abstract loop both within and through the form. The idea to commemorate all the legends under various sports verticals was the main notion of this building. Form followed the function in this design, taking into cognisance both the indoor and outdoor setting.

A camaraderie relationship between the indoor and outdoor helped us pick the right material to blend the two. A fluid movement and connection were made strong for us to achieve this idea for Padukone Dravid Centre at Bengaluru. Located on the outskirts of Bengaluru en route to the airport, away from the main city lies this project which is completely exposed to temperate weather conditions of the city. Surrounded with nothing but open space all around the site, climatic sensitive architecture was a must to ensure mutual shading and articulating the microclimate conditions.

Oriented along the north-south direction, the form inspired from the concept of infinity ensures a circadian design, shading both the eastern and western side through the day.

The fenestrations of the building were designed in such a way that they were slender and linear horizontally. This was to ensure a frame like the opening to perceive the outdoor onto the sporting facilities flaking it. A strong link to remind people of the might and sanctity of the hall of fame. The fenestrations were also deliberately placed in such a way that flushed the displays with natural light throughout the day, be it the displays on the wall or when suspended, an indirect light pierces through the entire indoor space, ensuring a huge saving on energy consumption. The indoor mimics the outdoor design intent.

A dynamic approach to depict action on the façade, like the idea of running, sprinting or jumping, always in motion and movement was attained though the external skin. The material used were Argemax boards from Wienerberger. The entire external skin was a dry clad system. A framework was created to ensure the boards were mounted on them. Again, slender linear horizontal members of 2400x300mm with two colour pigments placed at a specified location for creating movement trails. The material was flexible, easily craftable and durable, making it ideal for this context. The ends of the form, however, are extruded from the surface and are culminated with the opening imprints stamped on them. This is to highlight the fenestration and to enhance the profile of these fenestrations on the façade.

The idea of springing from the ground to move higher, a metaphoric representation of rising in sports was captured well with this treatment. This secondary skin also provides thermal cooling and reduces heat gain on the indoor display spaces while also helping in concealing service lines such as electrical conduiting and air-conditioning ducting systems. The integration of the passive energy concepts and the tenants of biophilic design has been the key to achieving a sustainable balance within this ecosystem. The vision to ensure a symbiotic relationship between the indoor and outdoor spaces was key, and thus achieved through the architecture and the material

Project: Padukone Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence
Location: Bengaluru
Client: Vivek Kumar
Architect: Urban Frame Pvt. Ltd.
Other consultants: Karsan Builders
Materials used for façade & fenestration: Wienerberger
Completion date: December 2017