Sri Lanka Architecture, Ceylon Buildings

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Sri Lankan Buildings : Architecture

Key Contemporary Architectural Developments in Southern Asia

post updated 5 December 2022

Sri Lanka Architecture Links

Sri Lanka Architecture News

Sri Lankan Architecture News – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

5 Dec 2022
House in a House, Colombo
Design: Read Studio
House in a House Colombo Sri Lanka
photo : Eresh Weerasuriya
House in a House, Colombo
House in a House is a light, airy private residence in suburban Colombo. It’s barn-like profile intersecting a house-like void has given the nickname “House in a house.”

18 June 2022
House in a House, Parangiyamadut, Eastern Province
Design: feat.collective
Lanka Learning Centre Sri Lanka Building
photo : Nipun Prabhakar
Lanka Learning Centre Sri Lanka Building
Civil war and the 2004 tsunami wrought displacement and destruction in Sri Lanka. The Lanka Learning Centre has pentangular plan and integration into the landscape – the architects kept all the existing trees, which now provide shade to the complex.

Harding Boutique Hotel Sri Lanka Southern Province

Southbeach Weligama, Matara District, Southern Province of Sri Lanka
Design: Balmond Studio
Southbeach Weligama Sri Lanka: Balmond Studio
image courtesy of architects practice
Southbeach Weligama Sri Lanka: Balmond Studio

31 May 2019
K House – an exclusive villa resort hotel, Southern Province
Design: AIM Architecture with Norm Architects
K House villa resort hotel in Sri Lanka
photograph y: Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, Noah Sheldon
K House villa resort hotel in Sri Lanka
A secluded beach front property surrounded by lush greenery and breath-taking views, with the architecture effortlessly blending into the nature with large openings, soft transitions and natural materials.

19 Sep 2018
Star Innovation Center, Colombo
Design: Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture
Star Innovation Center in Colombo Sri Lanka
photography : Ganidu Balasuriya and Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture
Star Innovation Center in Colombo
Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture (JPDA) has completed the first Certified Passive House project in South Asia, proving that ultra-high-performance efficiency standards are achievable for buildings in any climate.

16 Jul 2018
Sapphire Residences, Colombo

4 Aug 2017
Veranda Offices

9 Feb 2016
Ani Villa Dikwella, Sri Lanka
Design: AW2, Architects
Ani Villa Dikwella
photo : Mkael Benard
Ani Villa Dikwella, Sri Lanka

7 Jul 2014
British Council’s Headquarters in Sri Lanka

13 Nov 2013
House in Baddagana

1 May 2013
Post-Tsunami Housing, Kirinda, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
Design: Shigeru Ban Architects
Post-Tsunami Housing Sri Lanka
photo : Shu He
Post-Tsunami Housing Sri Lanka
This project provides 100 houses in a Muslim fishing village, in the region of Tissamaharama, on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka, following the destruction caused by the 2004 tsunami.

12 Apr 2013
School by the Lagoon, Ampara, eastern Sri Lanka
Architects: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
School by the Lagoon - Maligakadu, Karaithivu, Sri Lanka
photo from architects
School by the Lagoon
The Two thousand Four boxing day tsunami was the worst natural disaster to hit Sri Lanka in living memory. For a country already reeling from a two and a half decade old war the timing of the tsunami could not have been worse. The East and South coasts of Sri Lanka were totally devastated with 40,000 human casualities in addition to the colossal damage caused to the road network, bridges, harbours, schools etc.

19 Jul 2011
Holistic Learning and Empowerment Facilities, Mankulam, northern Sri Lanka
MCC Centre of Excellence Sri Lanka
picture from Article 25
Sri Lankan Community Building : Montly Report from Article 25
The Sri Lankan civil war between the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and the Sri Lankan Government was one of the most drawn out and tragic conflicts of modern times. Almost 30 years of fighting, much of which was fought in the North of the country, has resulted in over 100,000 deaths with thousands more displaced.

Sri Lankan Building – Recent Designs

IFRC Community Centre
Design: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
IFRC Community Centre
image from architect
IFRC Community Centre
This Building was designed as a community center for a tsunami affected community in Southern Sri Lanka. Located in a Buddhist temple premises the community center was donated by an international humanitarian organization international federation of red cross and red crescent societies as a token of gratitude towards the chief monk of the temple who helped Tsunami effected communities in Southern Sri Lanka.

Madiwela House, Colombo, western Sri Lanka
Architects: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
Madiwela House
photograph from Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
Madiwela House Colombo
This new Sri Lankan house was designed for a doctor couple nearing retirement, who wanted to move into this small compact residence by a paddy field in suburban Colombo. This 150 square meter site was located at an end of a slope overlooking a panoramic view of paddy fields and distant trees.

Belihuloya Mountains House
Design: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
Belihuloya Mountains House
photograph from architect
Belihuloya Mountains House
This Sri Lankan retirement home was designed as a ‘discreet hideaway look-out’ for clients who wanted to spend there retirement in quite solitude amongst the mountains. The house was built on stilts avoiding expensive retaining wall foundation systems to keep costs down as this was to be there second house.

Sri Lankan Architecture

We’ve selected what we feel are the key examples of Sri Lanka Buildings. We aim to include projects that are either of top quality or interesting, or ideally both.

We cover completed buildings, new building designs, architectural exhibitions and architecture competitions across Sri Lanka. The focus is on contemporary buildings but information on traditional buildings is also welcome.

Major Sri Lanka Architecture Projects, alphabetical:

Ayurveda Pavilions – retreat, Negombo

Geoffrey Bawa Architect

Blue Water Hotel, Wadduwa, south of Columbo
1997
Design: Geoffrey Bawa
Sri Lankan building damaged by the Asian tsunami at end of 2004

British High Commission, Colombo
2008
Design: Richard Murphy Architects
Sri Lankan Building
photo from architects
Sri Lankan Building

Ceylinco Sussex College, Horana, western Sri Lanka
Architects: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
Ceylinco Sussex College Horana
photograph : Waruna Gomis
Ceylinco Sussex College Horana
The Site is located in Horana, overlooking the paddy fields. The brief made the project a challenging task, as it required the school to be housed in one building with classes from grade one up to O/L, a science lab, staff rooms, toilet blocks, a play area and assembly hall- which could accommodate the entire school.

Cinnamon Hill House & garden, Lunuganga, Bentota, Galle, south Sri Lanka

Geoffrey Bawa

Ena de Silva House, Colombo

Geoffrey Bawa

Kandalama Hotel, Dambulla, Central Province

Geoffrey Bawa

Poruwadanda Wooden Toy Factory, Sri Lanka

Architects: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
Poruwadanda Toy Factory
photograph : Waruna Gomis
Poruwadanda Wooden Toy Factory
The project was to build a Wooden Toy Factory on an abandoned Rubber estate, by a joint venture between a Norwegian investor and a Sri Lankan partner, with the toy products expected to be exported to the Nordic and Scandinavian Countries. The Norwegian client was to close down his wooden toy manufacturing facility in Czechoslovakia due to high labor cost in Europe and relocate the machinery and equipment to Sri Lanka.

Rocell Bathware Concept Centre Building Refurbishment, Nawala, Sri Lanka
Architects: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
Rocell Bathware Concept Centre Sri Lanka
photograph : Waruna Gomis
Rocell Bathware Concept Centre in Nawala
The architects’ brief was to “convert an existing dilapidated Car Showroom Service Centre, to a Rocell Bathware Concept Centre, an elegant and stylish living space, with the task of stimulating and inspiring visitors was a challenging task”. This Corner Block Site, bordering two roads, was once open to the Main Nawala Narahenpita road side only.

RPL Factory – Canteen Recreaton and Rest Room Building, Horana, western Sri Lanka
Architects: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
RPL Factory Building
photograph : Waruna Gomis
RPL Factory Horana
This project was to design a Canteen, Recreation and Restroom building for Royal Porcelain Factory in Horana in a newly acquired six (06) perch block of land adjoining the Factory Premises. The Building was designed capturing the architectural idiom of the Factory building itself with a monitor roof in the centre.

St Bridget’s Montessori School Building
1963
Geoffrey Bawa with Laki Senanayake; murals by Barbara Sansoni

Sri Lankan Parliament – Buildings, Kotte
1983
Geoffrey Bawa

Unawatuna
2005
Daniel Libeskind Architects

More Sri Lankan Building developments online soon

Location: Sri Lanka, South Asia

South Asian Architectural Designs

Indian Architecture

Other Geoffrey Bawa Projects in Sri Lanka:

Triton, Ahungalla
Serendib, Bentota
Neptune, Beruwela
Sinbad, Kalutara
Lighthouse Hotel, Galle

Sri Lankan Architect : Geoffrey Bawa

Southeast Asian Architecture Designs

Malaysian Buildings

Thailand Architecture

Indonesian Buildings

Seychelles Building

Comments / photos for the Sri Lanka Architecture page welcome