Channa Horombuwa

This is a conversion of a half-way done ordinary – looking house into a contemporary piece of Architecture. The house was at the half way mark, without a roof but with a collection of raw brick walls and slabs, when  the client realized that the outcome of the house was not going to be what he has been expecting. Then he wanted to deviate from the original design and decided to stop further construction. This made him to look for an Architect on the internet to convert the structure into something that he was expecting. After seeing my work on the web he spoke to me and paid a visit to discuss. I understood what he really wanted and gave him the assurance that the outcome will be something breathtaking. When I visited the site what I saw was a building with a large number of walls  which would not contribute to create interesting spaces once its completed. So, I told him that there will be lots of wall and slab demolition in order to achieve the best for the site and the client fully agreed with a lot of confidence. Then  I visualized a modern structure with a correct scale and proportion to stand on this one acre site and created a 3D image to impress the client.

The house comprised of 5 bedrooms, Three Bathrooms, large living, dining, pantry, TV lobby and kitchen. The Gym is a separate section located next to the pool. The large living room with a double height opens out to the large front garden on one side and to the swimming pool and deck on the rear side. My intension was to maintain the outdoor  indoor relationship very effectively with the use of large glazed panels. The entrance lobby or  the stair lobby is once again a double height space with a floating staircase running in one stretch as a feature on one side against a textured coloured wall with a series of glass openings at random sizes. The garden runs around the house and joins the swimming pool at the rear end. The glass floor above the deep end of the swimming pool is a special feature and a popular seating space for the visitors.

When creating spaces for this halfway done structure, I had to break slabs, beams and a lot of walls. The front double height verandah, the Entrance lobby and the side angular tiled wall with a skylight and a reflecting pool are the additions to the existing structure. The client being so positive, never objected to my suggestions and always accepted my ideas. Still there are canopies to be fixed for the windows for rain protection and new trees and bushes to be planted in the garden.

The surrounding of the house is large bare lands with few single storied houses at a distance. Therefore this house stands as a landmark to the existing set up. The front parapet wall had to be raised to a reasonable height to be proportionate with the scale of the house.

Rohitha and Chamila with their three sons enjoy the luxury of this spacious contemporary piece of architecture.