Kaithady Vocational Training Centre, Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Architectural Objective of the project was to build a ‘robust’ vocational training center which can withstand years of wear and tear, in the extreme weather conditions of Jaffna peninsula. This vocational training Institute has been built to replace the facility that existed on the site in a group of residential buildings donated for the cause by a well-wisher. The design choose to renovate and conserve the two storey building on the site and a new ‘U’ shaped structure centered on this old building with large open workshop spaces added. A Wide verandah connects the new buildings and the old. The ‘U’ opens out to the breezes of the lagoon beyond and forms a three sided courtyard with shade of two existing Margosa trees on the site that have been preserved. This central space acts as a gathering and meeting space for the students and sometimes to allow an overflow of work space. The old and new buildings have been united by the use of black powder coated aluminium windows and a roof made from a steel frame covered with sandwich paneled zinc aluminium panels and gives and appropriate industrial aesthetic to the complex.

Project Cost: Rs. 164 Million
Consultants: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
Architects: Chinthaka Wickramage, Nileeka Senerath
Project Manager: Peter Lengowski
Project Director: Lukas Sitsen
Chief Site Engineers: Tobias Strobel & Jens Winkler
Assistant Architect: Thusahara Sampath Ajith Kumara
Structural Engineer: Keerthi Rathnayake
Quantity Surveyor: Sunanda Gnanasiri