Renovation and restoration of old buildings in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka has a great history about man- made structures. Most of the prestigious structures such as the palaces and buildings for Maha sanga were built with stone, clay bricks and timber. The dwellings of average people may have built using perishable material such as clay and timber leaving no traces. Portuguese established in 1505 and settled in Colombo after their second visit in 1517. It was only after peace was established on the south western coast in 1594 and north western coast in 1618 that substantial Portuguese buildings worthy of the name of Architecture were built. They were military forts and churches of Catholic missionaries. The Dutch (1656- 1796) who took over in 1656 converted a lot of Portuguese buildings for their uses and in the later part of their period they built with their characters. The British occupied in 1796 but the true British styled buildings were erected after the first decade of 19th century. This will b under the history of buildings. The nineteenth century was a great period for building construction. The industrial revolution influenced the building construction by introducing new materials and technology. Most of the old buildings which were constructed in Sri Lanka after the 19th century, have built with new materials such as rolled steel and reinforced concrete. Restoration process of ancient buildings should be approached after studying the design concepts, building characters, structural formations, materials used, durability of elements of the building …etc. The structural drawings are not available in those buildings and renovations or restoration has to be done without un-stabilizing the supporting systems. The experience gained by doing renovation and restoration works in different parts of Sri Lanka such as Hanthana (central hills), Galle fort, Kekanadura (, down south) and in Colombo, will be discussed in this article. The technology, materials used ,..etc were not similar in those buildings due to topography, availability of space