Is it even possible to host so many disciplines without a running track? It is when you have an indoor-outdoor arena built into the stadium, topped by a whole complex of other facilities. Meet India's most versatile stadium!

It's one of the least expected nominees for Stadium of the Year 2017, the first ever from India in 8 years of the competition. But it's also a well-deserved nomination. For a fraction of the price paid by other operators of multi-event facilities, TransStadia managed to create something special.

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The Arena by TransStadia is a state-of-the-art multi-purpose, multi-sport and social involvement infrastructure in the city of Ahmedabad. The project was awarded under public-private partnership (PPP) to the company for building sports infrastructure. The Arena is the first venue in India to combine world-class sporting infrastructure for over a dozen anchor sports coupled with leisure, wellness and entertainment facilities. This is a part of the larger plan to develop a nation-wide footprint of similar sporting hubs.

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Project includes 20,000-seater FIFA-standard football stadium (lower tier with 9,130 retractable seats utilising the flexibly T-Box system), indoor multi-purpose arena suitable for 10 sports, sports academy, sports science and rehab facility, sports club, banquets, dining and retailing areas.

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The project is the first worldwide to use the StadiArena technology for stand convertibility and seat retractability by T-Box, both patented technologies. This ensures that, on a small piece of land, the project can be used for sports, entertainment, wellness, hospitality, retail and more. At the press of a button, a part of the outdoor stadium converts into an indoor air-conditioned arena within minutes.

StadiArena is a key technology used to enclose a stadium stand and turn it into an enclosed area that can be used for exhibitions, conferences, conventions and other events when the stadium is not in use. The technology includes vertical lifting doors, similar to airplane hangar doors, which drop down from the front of a stadium stand, enclosing the stand and turning it into an indoor space. The arena also includes 32,000 m² of pillar-less area.

Another technology utilised by TransStadia is the Turf Protector. This helps cover the FIFA standard natural turf and frees up space so that the pitch can host other events without damaging the turf. The world’s only turf protection system manufactured from truly translucent HDPE material, it allows for continuous photosynthesis, which ensures optimal turf health, together with a 30-year UV degradation guarantee. Further, to achieve the construction of the stadium in time, sufficient prefabricated structures have been used.

Awarded the ‘IGBC’s LEED INDIA GOLD’ Rating for Integrated Sports & Entertainment Complex, The Arena has been built with all green building standards of power saving, smart water and power utilization, fire safety, rainwater harvesting and more. The project has been built with 7.75 million construction man-hours. It has 44 km of electrical cabling and 14 km of wifi cabling. It also has almost 19,000 m² of landscaped areas, including gardens and swimming pool overlooking the field. The earthquake-resistant structure has been designed for upgraded Seismic Zone-4, which is the highest resistance.

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The Arena also houses TransStadia Sports Performance Enhancement (TSPE) Centre & TransStadia Academies. Sports Science being the core at what TransStadia does, TSPE, a state-of-the-art sports science centre is setup within the stadium with dedicated areas for conducting assessments, programs and focused rehabilitation for the discerning customer. TransStadia Academies involves partnering with the education system to develop sports programs for students - the program scope covers sports training, intra-school competitions, and provision of quality equipment and fitness assessments.

Other amenities include provision for parking of approx 900 vehicles or 1,200 two-wheelers at a two-level basement; 450 toilets for men, women and the differently abled; and 28 elevators.

The stadium can host world-class personal, corporate and ticketed entertainment events across its multiple venues. The project was launched after 31 months of construction, with the Kabaddi World Cup 2016. First event including the whole stadium took place in 2017. In just one of operations, it has hosted various sporting and non-sporting events like the first ever Mission XI Million Football Festival in association with AIFF & FIFA U17 World Cup, Pro Kabaddi League 2017, 30th Asian Table Tennis Championship, concert by AR Rahman and the 72nd Santosh Trophy – a national level football tournament in India.