Kalinga Stadium: Redefining India’s Sports Infrastructure

The Kalinga Stadium project in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, is a prime example of innovative design and engineering, demonstrates the power of joint efforts of SACPL , and Collage Design to create a world-class sports facility. The Athletic HPC and Aquatics Complex were built to meet the rigorous demands of high-performance athletes, ensuring a balanced combination of functionality and visual appeal.

The Kalinga Stadium project, a standout development in India, exemplifies innovative design and engineering as a world-class sports facility. The project involved the construction of the Athletic High-Performance Centre (HPC) and Aquatics Complex, two state-of-the-art centres designed to meet the rigorous demands of high-performance athletes. Sachin KC, COO, and Sadaf Quadri, Principal Engineer at SACPL, played pivotal roles in the structural engineering of these complexes, ensuring their stability, durability, and functional efficiency. Amol Mahajan, Director at COLLAGE DESIGN PVT LTD , spearheaded the overall architectural vision, ensuring that the facilities met functional requirements and created a visually stunning and inspiring environment for athletes and visitors.

Design Philosophy

The design brief for the Kalinga Stadium project was to create new, world-class facilities within the existing sports complex, to enhance its status as a premier international sports venue. The brief emphasised the need to design versatile and athlete-focused environments that support a wide range of sports activities while maintaining a cohesive aesthetic across the complex. This approach led to the development of five key facilities encompassing the Hockey HPC accommodation, residential sports science centre, tennis centre, aquatic complex, and athletic centre. Each facility was designed to ensure that athletes have access to the best possible training, recovery, and living spaces. The visually impressive structures also contribute to the stadium’s overall identity as a top-tier sports destination.

Furthermore, the Kalinga Stadium project has significantly shaped the approach to designing sports facilities for SACPL, reinforcing the importance of integrating advanced technology with athlete-centric spaces. The key design principles that emerged include creating a multifunctional space while also ensuring the use of advanced equipment and technology for performance enhancement.

The Athletic HPC integrates a residential unit with an indoor athletic stadium, to ensure that athletes have convenient access to training facilities. The design accommodates a variety of athletic activities, including a 200 m indoor oval track and field events such as shot put, pole vault, and long jump. The necessity to maintain an unobstructed space for these activities has led to the strategic placement of structural columns along the building’s periphery, to support a vast roof span of approximately 70 m. This design not only meets the functional requirements but also aligns with the architectural vision, providing an effortless and uninterrupted space for athletes to train year-round.

Similarly, the Aquatics HPC is designed with a focus on functionality and performance. It comprises an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a practice pool, centrally positioned to optimise space utilisation. The structural design is mindful of the need for open space above the pool. The roof spans 50 m, covering the aquatic facilities and enabling continuous training regardless of weather conditions.

Both structures have been engineered to withstand higher basic wind speeds of 55 m per second, exceeding the standard code requirement of 50 m per second. This consideration is crucial given the location’s susceptibility to cyclonic conditions, ensuring the safety and durability of the complexes. The collaborative efforts of the sports architecture firm Collage Designs Pvt Ltd, SACPL, the Structural Consultant firm and Larsen & Toubro, the contracting firm have culminated in a pioneering project that sets a new benchmark for sports infrastructure in India, to potentially enhance the country’s competitive edge in the international sports arena.

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