The best places to see Geoffrey Bawa architecture

Geoffrey Bawa trained as a lawyer before turning to architecture in his thirties. From the 1950s until his death in 2003, he designed houses, hotels, schools, universities and public buildings across Sri Lanka and beyond.

His work, often called tropical modernism, uses open courtyards, verandas, deep roofs, local materials and planting to make buildings cool, calm and connected to nature. He drew on old Sri Lankan temples and manor houses as much as on modern design.

For travellers, Bawa's buildings are a chance to see how architecture can respond to climate and landscape, and many are simply beautiful places to spend time.

Bawa often worked with artists and craftspeople, including Laki Senanayake and Ena de Silva, whose sculptures, batiks and lamps fill his buildings. Seeing his work therefore means seeing a whole generation of Sri Lankan design, from furniture and textiles to gardens, not only the buildings themselves.

Number 11, on a lane in Colombo's Kollupitiya, was Bawa's home, created by joining four small bungalows into a series of courtyards and rooms. Guided tours show his collections and his skill with light and space. Booking ahead is advised.

The Seema Malaka, a meditation pavilion on Beira Lake for Gangaramaya temple, floats on platforms connected by bridges. It is especially lovely at dusk. The Parliament complex at Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte rises from an island in a lake, with copper roofs inspired by traditional buildings. It is usually seen from outside, across the water.

Combined, these make a fine half-day architecture tour of Colombo.

Lunuganga, his country estate on a lake near Bentota, is Bawa's most personal work: a garden and house shaped over decades, with framed views, terraces and pavilions. Guided tours run daily, and rooms can be booked for an overnight stay.

The Bentota Beach hotel, one of his early resort designs, and Heritance Ahungalla, further south, show his approach to coastal hotels, with long open corridors, courtyards and views of the sea. Brief Garden, his brother Bevis's estate, lies nearby.

Lankan Stays & Trails often combines Lunuganga, Brief Garden and a Bawa hotel into one slow day on the south-west coast.

Heritance Kandalama, near Dambulla, is one of Bawa's most famous buildings, a long hotel built along a rock face and wrapped in vegetation so it almost disappears into the forest. It overlooks Kandalama reservoir with views towards Sigiriya.

Jetwing Lighthouse, on the coast just outside Galle, has a dramatic staircase with a bronze sculpture of a battle, by Laki Senanayake, and rooms facing the ocean. Both hotels can be visited for a meal or drink if you are not staying.

Bawa also designed the Ruhuna University campus near Matara, admired for its buildings spread over hills, though it is a working university and not a tourist site.

Book tours of Number 11 and Lunuganga ahead, as times and group sizes are limited. Hotels may allow non-guests for meals or drinks; call ahead to confirm.

An architecture-focused trip can be built around Colombo, Bentota, Galle and Dambulla, covering Bawa's major works in a week alongside the usual sights. Photography is usually allowed at hotels and gardens but may be restricted inside private houses.