"White Haven" - Personalized house at Colombo 05

The architect designed this home for her family and herself almost 15 years ago, which was completed in early 2009. A minimalistic, modern built form was visualized to create a peaceful haven, an escape from the bustling and busy city of Colombo. This home has been a testament to holistic living, due to its minimalistic concept and timeless design, in all its years of existence. The clean geometric form and use of white within the space create a Zen-like atmosphere to capture the feelings peace and contentment. A 3-storied structure, the house was built to ‘look-within’. The rectangular form is broken up into two halves; private spaces on one half and a celebratory space on the other half, divided along its longitudinal axis. The ‘celebratory space’ is a compilation of living, dining, pool, master bedroom and gardens visually connecting the front and rear boundaries enhancing the visual expanse of space. The whole structure flows seamlessly from one area to another through the use of openings and voids. The end result is an expansion and illusion of limitless space. The design maximizes the concept of open plan layout through smart space repartitions and multi height levels. The private rooms look into the triple-height central space. An important design consideration was given to provide every private room with physical and visual connectivity to the central or outdoor spaces or it can be closed off when privacy is required. Additionally, a minimalistic color and material pallet was used to further enhance this feeling.