House in Mirissa

Tadao Ando recalls that on a youthful journey around the world his ship had called at a port in Sri Lanka, and that when he was asked to build this house those memories returned, with a wish to take on the challenge of building in the island's climate. The house is a weekend residence, completed in 2008.

The local firm PWA Architects oversaw the construction. There was then almost no bare-concrete building in Sri Lanka, Ando recalls, yet he sought the same precision as in Japan there, while using as many local materials and methods as possible, for the floors and stonework in particular. PWA's partners travelled to Japan several times to study Ando's details and building techniques, so as to hold the strict geometry of his design.

The house stands on the highest point of the estate, which leaves most of the landscape and vegetation intact, and rises in exposed concrete on top of a cliff. It has three storeys. Almost every room looks to the sea, some to the jungle, and in many of them the walls are glazed or left open to the outdoors from floor to ceiling. Ando created many half-outdoor intermediate spaces and shades so that the house can breathe without air conditioning.

On the ground floor, an artist's studio is lit through a two-storey window that a large steel cross divides into four; a glazed study upstairs is reached by a staircase that winds around it. Terraces step between the levels, and an infinity pool overlooking the sea projects over the roof of the living room. The window of the sea-facing living room slides away on a hidden motor.

It is a private residence: it cannot be visited.