Brandix HQ wins Gold

The new head office of the Brandix Group won the 'Gold Flame' for Commercial Buildings in the Large Scale category at the Sri Lanka National Energy Efficiency Awards 2015, less than nine months after it was commissioned.

President Maithripala Sirisena was the chief guest at the awards ceremony at the BMICH.

The award recognises the substantial savings achieved in energy consumption through the eco-friendly design of the new eight-storey edifice.

Built on the site of the Group's previous head office on the intersection of Rheinland Place, Colombo 3 and Marine Drive, the visually minimalistic tower's double-glazed Argon-filled black tinted glass walls give the structure improved thermal insulation and a high solar reflectance index, keeping its interiors cool.

The building, purpose-designed by Architect Murad Ismail, accommodates approximately 200 people, and sets a new benchmark for low-carbon

The extensive use of a unique self-cleaning glass as exterior walls provides the building's occupants with a panoramic view of the Indian Ocean and Colombo city while reducing energy consumption. Wired for extreme efficiency, sophistication and security inside, the new building is the home of senior management and all centralised corporate functions of the Brandix Group, Sri Lanka's largest apparel exporter.

Group Director, Feroz Omar said, "Brandix embarked on its green journey many years ago, and today, the environment is instinctively factored into everything we do. We, therefore, set exacting standards and specifications for the design and construction of our head office. Winning Gold at the National Energy Efficiency Awards for this building gives us immense satisfaction."

Commissioned on March 1, 2015, the Brandix HQ has 29,783 square feet of air-conditioned office space, but has an electricity consumption of 4.63 kWh/1,000 ft2, well below the baseline set for commercial buildings.

Daylight harvesting is facilitated by a high window to wall ratio.