Architecture Asia - ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2019

A–1
Residential
Projects
Single Family
Honourable
Mention
Artists’ Retreat, Pittugala
Architect
Palinda Kannangara
Location
Sri Lanka
This house is a home, studio, retreat and exhibition space for
an artist couple, a Sri Lankan painter and his artist printmaker
wife. They desired a space they could retreat to in order to create
and display art, as well as to serve as a residence for them
and their young daughter.
The building sits on a site sloped down towards paddy fields
that act as a buffer to nearby urban life and an expressway, with
a series of internal gardens that create a seamless connection
between the external paddy landscapes.
The building is wrapped with hollow bricks, with breathing air
voids to create air gaps for a cooler micro-climate within the
house. The entire house is passively ventilated, and is buffered
from the noises of the neighborhood and highway by the surrounding
paddy fields and the lush internal gardens, creating a
feeling of a private oasis.
The project has been described as a satisfying and collaborative
process between the architect and client, with the modest
budget incrementally gathered over a period of three years.
ARCASIA
Awards for
Architecture
2019
Residential
Complexes
Multiple Family
Gold Winner
Honourary Mention
China
Singapore
A-2
20
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