Sheikh Kamal International Sports Complex

BRAC University, Department of Architecture, Dhaka

Project idea

The aim of this project is to provide recreational activities to not only the people of Cox’s Bazar but also the tourists who will visit there. The establishment of a sports complex in Cox's Bazar is necessitated by the need to meet the rising demand for sports facilities, advance tourism and economic development, improve athlete development, promote community engagement and social cohesion, support youth empowerment, and improve health and well-being. This project has the ability to significantly alter the athletic environment in Cox's Bazar, provide for the local populace, and advance the general development and well-being of the area by facilitating district level athletic training in sports and gymnastics as well as the creation of user-friendly,
environment and site-responsive architectural spaces. At the same time, it will also play a vital role in accelerating local tourism and commerce, by allowing the complex to generate income through public events by accommodating athletes and provide training inside the complex as well as offering Cox’s Bazar residents and tourists leisure and entertainment. Visitor accessibility is made simple, and areas and functions are visible to one another by creating a flexible design while maintaining architectural integrity.

Project description

The proposed project Sheikh Kamal International Sports Complex is a recreational project with an area covering 3.5 acres, situated at the center of Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila, near the Laboni Beach Point. The project program includes indoor-games arena, gyms, olympic sized swimming pool, multi-court arena, and courts of futsal, volleyball, basketball, tennis, badminton, which will be available to both the local people and the tourists for recreational purposes. Many types of International sports competitions will also be held in those arenas, which will attract a large number of people in this project. For these, there will be arrangements of multiple facilities like, cafe, food courts, seating galleries, plaza space full of vendors, green terrace spaces, medical facilities, multipurpose hall, shops, parking etc. Moreover, a sports complex architecture always demands a massive bold monolithic mass with dynamism, in which there will be huge interior spaces to accommodate the sports arenas. So, this project has been visually emphasized by the use of environment-friendly materials and an aesthetically beautiful and dynamic geometric form, that will attract any sports enthusiastic people to use it.

Technical information

In this architecture, the exterior facade is fully structural, like a shell. The wall is made up of concrete infilled structural elements. There are metal bracings through triangulation within the concrete wall. Moreover, at some spaces, in between the triangulated metal bracings there are void spaces created for ventilation purpose.