Tall storeys

Krrish Square

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Situated in a prime location in the central business district of Colombo, the Krrish Square development consists of two impressive towers 280 metres and 250 metres tall respectively that will house a five star hotel, luxury apartments, and a new podium complete with food and retail outlets.

In addition, an existing listed building that stands on the site will be refurbished and incorporated into the podium as a high end shopping mall.

The 280 metre and 250 metre towers will be the tallest buildings in Sri Lanka

When complete, Krrish Square is expected to attract major Fortune 500 companies to Colombo

It is currently ranked as the 10th largest development of its kind in the world

Challenge

Buro Happold was presented with a variety of challenges on this project. The site itself is constrained, as it is located on an island in the city centre and surrounded by busy roads. In addition, our client was keen to open the new mall as soon as possible, while the rest of the building work continued around it.

Solution

Our engineers have extensive experience of delivering similarly complex projects, so were able to draw on existing knowledge to find solutions to these challenges. Initially, we developed a two-phase plan for the building work that would see Tower A and the podium that will house the mall constructed first, so that it can start trading while Tower B is built separately.

We added further value within our structural design for the towers. Our interdisciplinary team undertook careful modelling and analysis of the design to ensure it would be strong enough to withstand the wind loads of the region, and also to maximise the available interior area within each tower.

We then developed a building services strategy that will keep plant area to a minimum, providing our client with further space savings and flexibility for the future.

Krishnendu Mukherjee, Regional Director and Engineering Services Leader

Value

On completion, the two towers will be the tallest in Sri Lanka. As part of a wider drive to modernise the Colombo cityscape, they will stand as an inspiring representation of the city’s economic and cultural progress.