In 2004, the small island country of Sri Lanka experienced a devastating tsunami, where more than 30,000 people were killed and 9,000 children were orphaned. MxM team members traveled to Sri Lanka alongside a group of architects and engineers to collaborate on a design for a new orphanage at the periphery of the capital, Colombo. Through repeated site visits and engagement with the community, including the youth, the interdisciplinary group developed designs that integrated the needs of the orphanage within the local landscape.

This 1.6 hectare site at the edge of Negumbo Lagoon has become home to more than 200 children. A gradient of architectural mass and formality spans the site, transitioning from formal courtyards along the residential street, to large fields for supervised play at the core, and finally to “wilds” at the lagoon edge for independent exploration. This approach of clustering buildings along the property edges maximizes open space and minimizes negative impacts to the site.

Scott Melbourne contributed to this project as a volunteer with Architects Without Borders