Located next door to a 1970s office block for the same client by the late architect, Pani Tennekoon, the critical design challenge was to create both architectural and functional continuity in a contemporary statement - four decades later. This project illustrates a vision for the City of Colombo. Unlike most construction happening in the city, this controlled and contextualized building complemented the street facade of the 70s building by adapting the same geometry to a 6-story, 3 meters deep steel and aluminium structure carrying luxuriant vegetation - a gridded vertical forest. The glass curtain wall is screened and completely shaded by this vertical forest. In another gesture, an internal courtyard in the older building is extended with a deeper court of the same width in the new building - creating a shared courtyard for the old and new buildings. At every level, dense planting continues across both courtyards.
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