“Design
Speciality”
The design of this tower was conceptualized
by the Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission of Sri Lanka in collaboration
with the Faculty of Architecture, University
of Moratuwa. The Faculty of Architecture also
provided professional advice on cost planning
and cost control of the project. Since this
is built near the Beira lake, the engineers had
to excavate 20 meters for the basement.
This is the biggest concrete basement in
Sri Lanka’s construction history. The iron steel
structure was planned specially to withstand
earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 8.2
on Richter scale. The tower base represents the
lotus throne and has been formed by two inverted
trapezoids.
The base consists of four floors. The tower
shaft is nearly 200 meters in height. High speed
elevators have been fixed inside this shaft. There
are three main elevators that can speed up to
seven meters per seconds and it takes 33 seconds
to reach the top. They are the current fastest elevators
in Sri Lanka.
The rotating restaurant
is another special feature of
the tower head. The rotating
platform takes nearly 90 minutes
to complete one rotation
and it can also be adjusted according
to the situation. There
is a bird’s eye viewpoint at the
top which is an ideal place to
get an aerial view of the city.
The framework of the petals is
made of steel, while the petals
are made of glass.
The petals are illuminated
with LEDs of changeable
colours. The tower’s colour is
planned to change between
pink and light tallow with
smooth transition using an
effect achieved by a special
coating of glass. The petals are
illuminated with 20000 LEDs,
each of which can display six
colours.
The tower shaft is lighted by
spot and laser bulbs. The entire
lighting system is controlled
by a computer system so that
during special functions and
festivals, the tower will have
different decoration displays.
According to the Telecommunications
Regulatory Commission,
this is a
unique construction
in the field
of electronic
communication
in Sri Lanka. The
most important
thing is when
foreign countries
carry out a project
of this kind,
they seek assistance
of foreign
experts and usually
select world famous architects for designing. But Sri Lankan
engineers and designers obtained the technology from foreign experts
and applied it to the local construction industry. As a result
of that effort, the Lotus Tower rises proudly in the Colombo city
skyline as a unique landmark of our country.
References
1. Colombo Lotus Tower [Available at: http://
csec.lk/colombo_lotus_tower.php]
2. Construction of the Colombo Lotus Tower
[Available at: http://www.trc.gov.lk/compo
nent/k2/item/15-construction-of-the-colom
bo-lotus-tower.html]
3. 20 Things You Need To Know About Colom
bo’s Lotus Tower [Available at: https://roar.
media/english/life/reports/20-things-needknow-colombos-lotus-tower/]
Adith Missaka Pindeniya,
First year undergraduate,
Faculty of Engineering,
University of Peradeniya.
Page 6
University of Peradeniya GAUGE Magazine