Clubhouse with a signal effect

The new clubhouse of a soccer club in Adisaptagram makes one thing clear: sport brings people together. The building combines elements of a community center with those of a clubhouse. It strengthens the community as well as sport, creating a meeting place for everyone.

The rural community of Adisaptagram in West Bengal, India, has a new center: the Waterfront Clubhouse by Abin Design Studio. Located between the soccer field and a lake, the open structure functions as a viewing platform, a venue for cultural events and a spectator stand for the soccer club.

Soccer clubs have always played a major role here, near the town of Bansberia. Sport brings people together, especially young people with few prospects. Many clubs are active in this poor region. Since 2017, the government of the state of Bengal has been specifically promoting sports clubs. It provides each club with an investment sum of around 200,000 Indian rupees to create spaces for the community. The aim is to strengthen the communities and thus the sense of togetherness.

One of Adisaptagram’s local soccer clubs turned to architecture firm Abin Design Studio to build a clubhouse. With the help of the community, the Kolkata-based firm created a lively meeting place for sports enthusiasts in the neighborhood. The building consists of two stacked, open cubes that are joined together in a slightly twisted manner. The first floor is aligned parallel to the water’s edge, while the upper body opens up towards the playing field.

The building is an east-west type. It receives the morning sun and provides shade at midday. The first floor of the structure houses a multipurpose room that flows seamlessly into the outdoor space. The landscape continues to flow, there are no clear boundaries between inside and outside. A toilet block, including showers, is located at ground level next to the multifunctional space. Before the new clubhouse was built, the members of the soccer club had no access to clean drinking water or sanitary facilities during training.

Visitors reach the second level via stairs or platforms that serve as seating. It serves as a viewing platform and spectator stand for the soccer club. From here, adults and children can watch the soccer matches. But other cultural events outside of sport also take place here.

While the outer skin of the building for the soccer club is black, the interior is a bright red. As a result, the architecture attracts attention from both near and far. The colorful clothing of the visitors and soccer fans forms a bright whole with the red inside. Vertical slats provide sun protection. At the same time, they create an exciting interplay of shadows. Black, recessed lamps illuminate the interior in the evening, turning the architecture into a red luminous body.

The project aims to achieve holistic, sustainable development for the community: due to the low budget, low-cost materials from the region were used, which were then processed by local companies. It was important for the soccer club and planners to keep maintenance and upkeep costs as low as possible. The architects therefore paid attention to low-maintenance materials and surfaces. The use of concrete and cement not only reduces construction costs, but also minimizes the associated maintenance costs.

Want more soccer architecture? Here you can find a portrait of all the stadiums for the 2021 European Championships!