CONTEXT STUDY

Group 1: Aakaash,Ashvini, Damien, Dinu, Muthu, Pulasthi, Seshani, Sharon, Tharindu

CONTENTS
❏ Introduction to Site
❏ History
❏ Physical Surroundings/
❏ Green Layer
❏ Blue later
❏ Nolli maps.

❏ Road & Transportation Networks

❏ Weather Patterns
❏ Sociology & User Patterns
❏ Micro Context
❏ Site Pictures
❏ Analysis & Conclusion
HISTORICAL TIMELINE

Colombo is first heard of as Portuguese trading post Initially as much as the Growth as a city - In 1796, the British captured
a moorish trade settlement. was set up in Colombo. But portuguese had been Colombo, and used it as a
Its port at the bend of the the Portuguese swiftly invited into ceylon to help In the next three decades strategically important
sea below the Kelani river began to become heavy defend the island against the settlement grew to military outpost until 1815 -
was frequented by ships handed in their approach. invaders, the dutch were such proportions that when the kandyan kingdom
from china, Persia, India They drove the muslims encouraged to trade additional reinforcement of was relinquished to them. At
and Arabia from Colombo and built exclusively in the area in soldiers artisans and this, the British established
themselves a fort. exchange for assistance builders were required. Ceylon as the colony of
Arab traders who were against the portuguese by British Ceylon.
engaged in the spice trade The modern Financial King Rajasinghe II of Kandy. Colombo soon evolved as
with the island built district of Fort Colombo is In 1656, the Dutch a fortified township Although Ceylon changed its
warehouses and dwellings located on and around the captured colombo and, to covering almost 22 acres. name when freed from British
for themselves near the site of the old fort, and has the surprise of nobody in This town comprised the rule in 1948. Many
port which was in the been aptly described on hindsight, refused to return land between Galle Buck institutions - the ‘bank of
corner of the cinnamon this site as the city’s it to the Sinhalese. and York Street and from ceylon’, for example -
producing district of the Financial and commercial Colombo continued to be about Canal Row to the continue to use the name.
cinnamon valley. This was heart. the capital of the Dutch harbour.
the principal port of the East India company’s
island after Kotte became maritime and commercial
the capital city. interests in the East.
 Based on the successful establishment of the The development of the city resulted in
EVOLUTION OF THE BUILT trade route the settlements of the city grew to a prosperity and economic growth which was
FABRIC OF COLOMBO FORT large proportion over the decades. reflected in the architecture of the city
COLOMBO FORT TODAY
HISTORIC
STREETS AND BUILDINGS
Heritage preservation has allowed urban planners to sustain
large scale developments in historically important
landscape within dimensions that are cultural, social and
human.

The heritage impulse, when incorporated into

developmental plans, the result is always the formation of a
culturally and socially exhilarated urban environment.

The heritage sites have the power to give rise to collective

pasts and futures because the collective consciousness of a
community is a historical ensemble that performs in the
temporality of a particular landscape.
DEMOGRAPHICS – COLOMBO METROPOLITAN AREA

Gender Distribution City Competitiveness Index Types Of Residential Developments

Inward Migration Into City Centre City competitiveness can be defined as the Settlement status
set of factors - policies, institutions,
strategies and processes - that determines
the level of sustainable productivity of a city

Colombo is ranked as the first highest on

the CCI following Kurunegala and Kandy as
second and third respectively.
DEMOGRAPHICS – COLOMBO METROPOLITAN AREA

Mode of Transport Railway Commuters Types Of Residential Developments

Vehicular peak Movement Railway Commuters inflows

Income level > 80,000/=

Projected population growth vs
income levels in Colombo Income level 40,000/= - 79000/=
area.
CoMTrans Urban Transport Master Plan Final Report
Income level <40,000/=
NOLLI MAP
LAYERING DIAGRAM
BUILT MASS

ROAD NETWORKS
Major and minor road
networks around the site

GREEN LAYER
Existing patches of greenery

BLUE LAYER
Water bodies

MACRO AREA OF STUDY

Radius of 1km
SITE 3D MODEL SITE SITE

SITE
 SITE 3D MODEL SITE
The One,
SLT
Head
SL
Customs
Colombo Office Headquarters Pettah
Shangri-la (Ritz Grid City
Colombo World Carlton)
Proposed Fort Railway
Trade Station
Site
Center
Port City
Development
BUILT MASS ANALYSIS MID-RISE BUILDINGS
- 4-10 floors
HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS
- Above 10 floors

LOW-RISE BUILDINGS
- G-4 floors
LAND VALUES
As Published By LankaPropertyWeb.LK, 2017.
The report also analysed a steep escalation in
prices of 40% per year. This however, may vary due
to adverse economic and social conditions

COLOMBO 1 COLOMBO 11
18 Million+ 10 Million+

Average Rental Rate

Commercial Building - Approx Rs 450/Sqft
Residential Building - Approx Rs 750/Sqft
COLOMBO 2
Average Residential Rate
14 Million+ 2 Br Apartment - Approx Rs 220 Million
LAND USE DIAGRAM
BUS TRANSPORTATION

The demand for public transport services which comprises bus and rail transportation jointly accounts 50.9 percent of total motorized transport. This share was around 70 percent before ten years ago. Of this,
bus transportation accounts for 46.6 percent with 38.2 percent of private bus transportation and 8.4 percent of state bus transportation. Diminution of public transport share reflects the increased demand for
private vehicle population in Sri Lanka.
In the Western Province, approximately 25,000 round-trips of intra-province buses are operated. Amongst those, 8,000 round-trips are made from/to the Pettah and Fort areas of Colombo. This means that bus
routes in the Western Province are directed toward the Pettah area. In the case of inter-province buses, a half of the bus routes which cross the boundary of the Western Province have one of their terminal
points in the Pettah or Fort area. The route system in the region is a radial pattern. This creates a significant load on the road system in the city centre. From the passengers’ point of view, they cannot help going
to the Pettah or Fort area to go to a city in another corridor.

https://www.transport.gov.lk/web/images/downloads/F-CoMTrans_Main_S.pdf
TRAIN TRANSPORTATION

MAIN LINE TRAIN SCHEDULE

almost 300,000 passengers coming to Colombo daily, in 275 trains, the Fort
Railway Station is undoubtedly the heart of the railway service

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2018/11/11/spectrum/fort-railway-station-moving-nation-100-years
Pedestrian Movement Pattern

High pedestrian footfall through

and around the site. Can
incorporate this pedestrian flow
into the site for a more inclusive
development.

The site is at the heart of the a

vital link between the Fort
railway station and the CBD and
retail node of Pettah.
Pedestrian Nodes

Several major gathering points

may be identified around the
micro context of the site.

● Major Transport hubs

● Corporate Offices
● Government run Institutions
● Hotels
● Night Clubs
● Restaurant
● Bars

Provide us with the understanding

that these nodes remain active for
most hours of the the day.
Specifically on weekends the the
recreation related functions
remain active for near 18 to 20
hours of the day.
Weather and Climate

Model Generated by Grasshopper

Weather and Climate

Temperature Humidity

The average hourly temperature, color coded into bands. The

The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort
shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.
levels, categorized by dew point.
Weather and Climate
Wind

The average of mean

hourly wind speeds (dark
gray line), with 25th to
75th and 10th to 90th
percentile bands.

The percentage of hours in

which the mean wind direction
is from each of the four cardinal
wind directions, excluding hours
in which the mean wind speed
is less than 1.0 mph. The lightly
tinted areas at the boundaries
are the percentage of hours
spent in the implied
intermediate directions
(northeast, southeast,
southwest, and northwest).
MICRO CONTEXT
 PEOPLES’
BANK

GAFOOR

SIR
SLT BUILDING
BUILDING

BAR
SLT

ON J
BUILDING
SLT
CAR PARK YMBA

AYAT
BUILDING

HILA
LOTUS ROAD

KA
MAW
SITE EXTET 328 PERCH

ATH
Port SERVICE
Canal Yard. SLPA Building

A
ONE STOP (documentation
CAR PARK SERVICE CENTER
BUILDING 55m
146m
OLCU
TT M
AWAT

42m CUSTOM MUSEUM

HA

SRI LANKA

CUSTOMS
SRI LANKA

COLOMBO CAR PARK

 LOTUS ROAD
SLT
BUILDING CUSTOMS
SRI LANKA
42 m approx

40 m approx
site
2.7m below
Water level
from the road level
4.0 m below
from the road level

SECTION ACROSS SITE

 Proposed Pedestrian
Customs Main Road SLT Port
Site Pathway
HQ Head Documentation
Office Building
LANDMARKS-MICRO CONTEXT

Pedestrian
pathway

View of the
site

Duke Street
LANDMARKS-MICRO CONTEXT

HSBC Head
Office

Y.M.B.A
Building

The One
View toward the Site View toward the Site View toward the Canal

Duke Street Sir Baron Jayatilaka Mawatha

Sir Baron Jayatilaka Mawatha Sir Baron Jayatilaka Mawatha Sir Razik Fareed Mawatha

View of the Site from Customs View of the Site from Customs
STREET SCAPES - Surrounding Site
KA
ILA
T
AYA
J HA
N T
A RO WA
B MA
S IR

OL
CO
TT
MA
WA
THA
 Thoughts on the City

What we have learned from the data

gathered, are that there are; Six Key

Design Elements that may

significantly impact the efficiency of
an Urban Region.

1. Urban Pattern
2. Streetscape
3. Open Space
4. Pedestrian Network
5. Vehicular Access
6. Roofscape
 URBAN
PATTERN
Conforming to clear urban
framework brings order in
to the city.

● Provide a framework
for land use and
infrastructure which
allows us to identify
the necessities within
the city.
● Including new, as well
existing natural assets,
to breathe life into
urban spaces.
● Provide visually
interesting niches that
may be clearly
identifiable as
landmarks of the city
STREETSCAPE

Streetscape and ample

permeability through the
CBD is yet another crucial
aspect. Thereby,
emphasizing the need to
demarcate the
Street edges, height of the
building and its scale at
street level to maintain an
appropriate scale in the
built environment.

● Reinforce the use of

the street as urban
spaces with pocket
parks and pedestrian
plazas. To prevent
feelings of
intimidations
amongst passersby
 OPEN
SPACE
A system of landscaped
areas that provides relief
from the built environment

● Provide a system of
green networks
to serve as a relief to
built forms.
● These systems, will
act as a Green link
between public
spaces.Whilst adding
character to the
cityscape.
● The Connectors will
culminate at public
parks, recreation
areas, pedestrian
malls & promenades
 PEDESTRIAN
NETWORKS
A network of continuous sheltered
and attractive
pedestrian spaces linking
buildings to transit nodes
and point of interest

● Provide safe and

convenient pedestrian links
within the CBD
● Improve street
environment & encourage
businesses by providing
continuous vibrant street
activities linking places of
attractions.
● Attract tourism by
connecting the system to
Hotel belts, waterfronts,
shopping corridors and
urban parks via
promenades & ped. malls
VEHICULAR
ACCESS

An efficient vehicular
movement system that
minimise the impact of
vehicles on pedestrian
areas

● Segregate service
areas and main access
from main traffic flow
to minimise
obstructions
● Provide drop-off and
adequate parking
within development
● Improve street
parking & lay-bys or
provide rear
servicelanes for
parking access
 CONCLUSION

S W O T
● Close to major transport nodes, ● Heavily congested areas of the ● Opportunity for the ● Vehicular density increasing
such as the Fort Train Station city. development to allow for great would result in higher
and bus routes. ● Waterfront pedestrian pathways inclusivity within it congestion in the area.
● Located within the Central are mostly unsheltered and ● The development of a large ● Possible flooding as rainfall
Business District of Colombo. thereby underutilised. public car park opposite from steadily increase per year.
● High commuter inflows in the ● Broad primary roads and poor the site would bring forth a ● Political and economic instability
CBD as it is a major commercial elevated pedestrian crossings larger movement of people. may result in low investor
node in Sri Lanka. have resulted in a rise in ● Proximity to a large waterbody confidence as a result
● Developments have the Jaywalking provides the opportunity for withdrawing on investment.
potential to raise high revenues ● Poorly lit roads make pedestrian water transportation.
as it is situated in a central movement from Colombo 1 to 11 ● Potential to earn high rental
node. after 8pm unfavourable. incomes for commercial
● Extremely high property value development as it is situated in
leads to high rents thereby the CBD.
increase the costs of recreational ● As foreign investor confidence
activities such as restaurants and in chinese owned developments
bars. Leading inaccessibility dwindles potential of marketing
amongst lower economic Sri Lankan owned properties
demographics. may increase.
POTENTIAL P R O J E C T S

● Shopping complex
● Recreational activities
● Commercial development focused on rentable floor
● City Hotels
● Serviced and residential Apartments
● Corporate Headquarters
● Science and technology related development.
● Water Transport Hub
THANK YOU