Wilkins Spence Packaging Lanka
Industrial Architecture · Mawaramandiya, Kadawatha, Sri Lanka
The brief
A packaging factory for a commercial printer in Kadawatha, sixteen kilometres from Colombo.
Project overview
- Location
- Mawaramandiya, Kadawatha, Sri Lanka
- Completed
- 2013
- Architect
- Design Republic
- Client
- Wilkins Spence Packaging Lanka (Pvt) Ltd
- Area
- 3150 m²
- Site area
- 5060 m²
- Photography
- Duminda Nawarathna
- Services
- Architecture
The site
The site fell sharply from one boundary to another, and it was overgrown when we arrived. We cleared the shrubbery and kept the coconut trees.
Design response
Rather than fight the topography we let it dictate the section. Production at the lowest level, offices and cafeteria above, the building stepping with the slope. Inside, the floors are opened up into a sequence of flexible spaces.
Climate response
The envelope is tight and well-insulated. Openings are small and considered. The building runs on very little energy as a result.
Materials
Walls are eco-brick. Finishes are cement render and exposed corrugated cladding, with cement-rendered floors, plastered walls, and no furniture that does not need to be there.
Outcome
A green factory in the simplest, oldest sense of the word.