By Leong Siok Hui

Long before the word "sustainable" became a catchphrase, Sri Lanka's most famous architect, Geoffrey Bawa, designed a green hotel that embraced sustainable tourism practices.

Braving 3½ hours of traffic from Colombo, we arrived at a junction with a sign pointing left to Heritance Kandalama.

It led us to a gravel road framed by a tunnel of lush foliage. It was late evening and pitch dark with no street light illuminating the way. I stuck my head out , expecting to see a brightly lit mammoth building, but there were only faint lights peeking out of a thickly forested slope like fairy lights draped over a bushy Christmas tree.

The hotel 'cave mouth

The car clambered up a winding ramp to the top of a ridge. In a flash, we pulled up to a giant cave mouth-like entrance with a huge boulder on its side. This turned out to be the hotel reception.

"Welcome to Heritance Kandalama," the bellhop flashed a grin as he swung open the car door. It was late, so after a quick drink with general manager Jeevaka Weerakone, we went to bed.

"A surprise awaits you," we were told. Early next day, I woke up to one of the most awe-inspiring spectacles I'd seen in a while. The floorto- ceiling glass window facing my bed framed a view of the shimmering blue Kandalama Tank (reservoir) hemmed in by a verdant forest. Across from the tank stood the regal, flat-topped rock formation of Sigiriya, a 5th century archaeological treasure and a Unesco World Heritage Site .

Kandalama's architect and one of Asia's most influential design gurus, Geoffrey Bawa, is likened to a stage designer. In his book, Geoffrey Bawa: The Complete Works, David Robson said Bawa's design controls the sequence of discovery so that "each space would contain within it the anticipation of other spaces."

Indeed each sequence, from the arrival at the entrance to the heart of the building, and finally the unravelling of the sublime view, built up one's anticipation . Kandalama is a delightful surprise.

Heritance Kandalama

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The master architect's vision

Wild Asia's Dr Reza Azmi and I were visiting Treetops Jungle Lodge, one of the finalists for this year's Wild Asia's Responsible Tourism Awards 2008 . Though Heritance Kandalama didn't make the cut for this year's award, we decided to drop in because of Bawa's reputation.

The hotel strives to benefit the local communities and preserve the cultural and natural heritage of the area. Known for his subtle blend of modern and traditional architecture, Bawa's works, from private homes to hotels, draws from his acute awareness of an area's geography and culture.

He believed "you must 'run' with the site; after all, you don't want to push nature out with the building." And so Kandalama snakes over a rugged, rocky outcrop and looks as if a stone carver has chiselled abstract oblong boxes out of a rocky ridge.

"When the hotel was being built, some people thought Bawa was crazy when he said 10 years from now (then 1994), the hotel would not be visible to the naked eye," said Nadhun Punchihewa, 22, the front office executive who took us on a tour.

"Now we know what he's talking about."

From the opposite shore of the tank, you can barely spot the flat roof and stark concrete structure that have blended into the rock.

The hotel peers out subtly from wild vines and lush foliage. Tall pillars line the spacious corridors and the lack of walls allow natural light to flood the interior, saving on the use of electricity during the day.

Natural light floods into the hotel

Bawa usually cools the buildings naturally with stack-and cross ventilation, verandahs and overhanging eaves. At Kandalama, only the bedrooms, conference rooms and restaurant are cooled with airconditioning.

Bawa avoided superfluous trimmings but the stark spaces accentuate the colours and textures of natural materials like the slabs of black stone floor tiles burnished with age and the ridge's roughhewn boulders that had been assimilated into the hotel interior.

Large glass windows wrapped around the building create a seamless flow between the interior and exterior.

"So much so," said Puchichewa, "that the birds kept banging into the windows and breaking their necks . We've since put up photos of eagle faces. Apparently, there are less casualties now."

The 152-room hotel has seven floors but the lowest floor is left empty with only tall columns, allowing the natural flow of water and animals .

"During the wet season, guests can see elephants tramping past or wild boars walking by," Punchihewa said.

Eco Park

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Keeping busy

There are tonnes of things to do in Kandalama. You can hop on a jeep safari ride through the Minneriya National Park, a famous bird sanctuary close by or join a guided bird-watching trip. Most guests flock to the Dambulla cave temples (dating back to 1BC) and the famous Sigiriya rock nearby.

The adventurous can hike to the Aligala (Elephant Rock) Cave dating from the 3rd century BCE in the jungle or take a 25-minute stroll to Puranagama village. Located next to an ancient irrigation tank in the tropical jungle, Puranagama allows a glimpse into traditional Sri Lankan village life with its mud houses and farms. Guests can chat with villagers over ginger tea and boiled wild potatoes with sambol.

You can also indulge in Ayurvedic or Asian aromatherapy massages at Kandalama's Six Senses Spa or take a dip in one of the hotel's three pools . At dusk, Siripala, a traditional flautist from a nearby village, would sit on a rock near the infinity pool and serenade guests with his haunting melodies .

One of our favourite moments was lounging at the balcony, sipping Chianti and eating freshly roasted cashew nuts. While we savoured the breathtaking view, a mischievous monkey frolicked at arm's length and the birds launched into a song.

Ah, bliss.

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The eco approach

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But the rest of our short stay was frantic as we ran around interviewing the staff and checking out Kandalama's Eco Park. Open to the public, the Eco Park is where visitors can observe the hotel's ecofriendly practices.

A 10-minute stroll from the hotel, the park houses an animal rehabilitation centre, a state-of-theart wastewater recycling plant, compost fertiliser pits, wet and solid waste recycling centres, an elephant dung paper making facility, herbal garden and an eco library.

Headed by manager Sarath Velarathana, the park plays host to hundreds of schoolchildren who come to learn about sustainable living.

Most solid wastes are sorted out, reused or recycled, from plastics and cardboards to tiny items like bottle caps, soaps and candles.

Used polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles are recycled, turned into pellets and converted into fabric.

All paper waste goes to the paper-making facility which uses elephant dung as binding material to create strong, good quality paper for stationery or wrapping paper.

Food waste is stored in a cool room and given to the pig farmers for the hotel's piggery. The hotel grows organic veggies, fruits and herbs in two different orchards that supply food to the staff kitchen and main restaurant. But Kandalama still has to source for fresh food from the nearby villages and Colombo.

It was simply mind-blowing just to enjoy the space, the view, the warm Sri Lankan hospitality and Bawa's ingenuity. As the late architect once said, "Architecture cannot be totally explained but must be experienced . . . "*

My sentiments, exactly.