The project in the rural town of Ambepussa near Colombo, aims to reintegrate former soldiers into post-civil war Sri Lankan society. Coming from underprivileged socio-economic backgrounds, young men are trained in building techniques through their involvement in the construction of public buildings – as for example in the realization of the Community Library in Ambepussa. Respecting existing trees, the slender building sits lightly in the landscape and wraps around an inner courtyard, taking full advantage of cross ventilation and daylight use. Rammed-earth walls and recycled materials reduce the building’s ecological footprint.

Progress: To overcome general de-skilling of the construction workforce, and to promote the army’s participation in post-war reconstruction, this project explores the possibility of using real building projects as training grounds for skill development. Planned early, training tasks are built into the design, an approach that can be extended across the building industry as a policy to build workforce capacity. Innovative use of rammed-earth demonstrates the first attempt in Sri Lanka to use that material for a building of this type and scale.

People: For psychologically, socially and economically destitute soldiers, the building process facilitates a career development path and an opportunity for social integration. The finished building is a repository of knowledge for soldiers and the local community – mainly school children and women who have been long deprived of accessing such knowledge. For all, the project delivers the possibility of social cohesion and personal advancement.

Planet: Rammed-earth is sourced from an adjacent site undergoing excavation for a playground. Re-used steel sections gathered from dilapidated old factories and discarded timber railway sleepers collected from a neighboring train station provide other key materials for structure and floor respectively. Such uses of renewable, recycled, zero-carbon emitting materials and processes are complimented by sustainable environmental planning that includes cross and stack ventilation, and access to natural light – thus reducing the building’s life-cycle cost.

Prosperity: The army’s human resource is assimilated for a social building project through carefully planned on-site training initiatives. This reduces immediate labor costs and produces a skilled workforce, whose training expenditure is internalized within the project, thus saving on social cost. Recycling and reliance on free, low-tech, natural resources saves money and long-term environmental costs. Programmatically, access to knowledge is reinforced as a counter to ethnic disharmony and racial conflicts, and the vehicle for proper economic development.

Place: The building’s placement on site accommodates all existing trees, follows the scale of adjacent buildings and enhances the natural charm of the landscape. A series of formal and informal platforms for reading are organized in and around the library; its spatial progression unfolds as an experiential journey across diverse volumes, framed views, and blurred definitions between inside and outside.