‘Ranajayagama’ - Creation of an Oasis

‘Ranajayagama’, a pioneering housing project by the Ministry of Defense, Public Security and Law and Order for the Tri Services Personnel was declared open on the 22nd November 2009 by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The project was led by the Ministry of Defense under the ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ scheme, with the noble intention of providing shelter for the needy security service personnel.

The scheme is built with 1509 completed housing units and other ancillary facilities such as Supermarket, Bank, Police Unit, places of religious worship, Post Office, Pre School, Daycare, School and health center building. The self employment training center, commercial center, recreational facility, community center, marketplace, banquet hall and gymnasium, public library including Children’s Play area are in the process of being constructed.

Houses ready for occupation

The site locates itself in a dry, rustic setting in Ipalogama, Anuradapura, adjoining a tank, and was originally an overgrown piece of land lost in the surrounding greenscape, in about 180 acres of land. A cart route segmented the setting to two components, while it remained well camouflaged in the thicket, thus contained within it human as well as elephant passageways.

The architect of the project understood the magnitude of the task, a susceptible natural setting to be transformed to a human habitat, while causing minimum damage to the surrounding and its eco- system. For the architect, it was important that aesthetically pleasing & a sustainable humane settlement is achieved while understanding the scale and required infrastructure facilities so that the project becomes a success.

The project initiated and in-depth study of the locality which enabled the architect to tune his ideas to attain the most appropriate layout for the scheme.

At the commencement itself the required reservations were introduced creating buffer zones between sensitive natural elements and human habitat, also preserving elephant corridors. The cart route was transformed to the main artery road which ties the layout in place, the by ways and a hierarchical road network was constructed with provision for cycle alleys, walkways and strips for landscaping.

The scheme contains four types of houses, two distinctive models and their mirror image. Each house 800sq.ft in extent and consist of three bedrooms, kitchen, and verandah, living and dining. The arrangement of the dwellings has given specific concern to traditional Sri Lankan settlement patterns. “Our culture and values has a tremendous impact on our settlements, and traditional settlements are always small in scale mostly as neighborhood units.

It is therefore important that the concept of small neighbourhoods to be facilitated in the design; roads not acting as a thoroughfare but terminating in a cul-de-sac, which enhances the social integration” says the architect. While the by-lanes of the scheme concentrate on clustering small neighbourhoods the main public facilities of the scheme has been positioned at the center of the site.

This central public square captures a direct view of the religious place of worship located at the highest altitude of the setting above a natural bolder, beyond which sits the Amphitheater and playground catering to the cultural & social needs of the community.

The zoning of the layout was also influenced by the thermal and climatic survey carried out in collaboration with the University of Moratuwa. In order to reduce the heat-island effect & to promote passive cooling and more natural light and ventilation within the interior of built forms so that energy efficient comfort is attained, a staggered formation of the housing units was developed.

Every available technique has been utilized to its maximum potential to accommodate energy efficiency using the setting, wind directions, and thick landscape patches for the thermal comfort. All houses are built with Clay Tiles with larger girth trees in front as well as in the rear of each plot. The arrangement also has taken to consideration the natural contour of the site, which promotes the natural water flow to facilitate storm water drainage.

The Architectural language employed is rather simple, aligned to a mix of contemporary Sri Lankan architecture and modern forms, all structures impressing on a residential quality, to generate a homely ambience.

The buildings take a low scale clustered formation which diminishes the monotony that would otherwise exist in such a repetitive set up. Throughout the design, careful measure was taken to wrap the new habitat with greenscape as can be seen throughout design and construction of the project; the architectural features, details, zoning of terrain, structural systems and many other factors contribute to make the habitat an element in the setting.

The architect Rukshan Widyalankara, while acknowledging the contribution by others in the design team, project managers, NCASL, and later the Sri Lanka Navy, particularly spoke of the contribution by Mr. Gotabaya Rajapakse, Secretary of the Ministry of Defense under whose guidance the project was carried out.

“It was due to Mr Rajapakse’s selfless service and love of military personnel, particularly to those in the lower ranks, which saw this project to fruition. Only a very few will know it” said architect Widyalankara. (Based on an interview with Architect of the ‘Ranajayagama’ project Rukshan Widyalankara)