LANKATILES collaborated with the Geoffrey Bawa Trust to support the 23rd Annual Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture, held recently at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, reaffirming its commitment to Sri Lanka’s design community.

The lecture was delivered by Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, founder of junya.ishigami+associates. Ishigami is recognised for challenging conventional ideas of architecture and exploring the relationship between built form, nature and human experience through his imaginative work.

The Memorial Lecture formed part of LANKATILES’ collaboration with the Geoffrey Bawa Trust, through which the company supports platforms where design can be experienced, discussed and celebrated. The partnership also extends to DesignTalk, another knowledge-sharing initiative held throughout the year.

Priyantha Talwatte, Managing Director of LANKATILES PLC, said, “Design has always been central to the LANKATILES journey. Our collaboration with the Geoffrey Bawa Trust enables us to support spaces where architecture, creativity and new ideas come together. We are proud to contribute to platforms that celebrate design, inspire future generations and strengthen Sri Lanka’s architectural community.”

Design at LANKATILES extends beyond developing products and surface solutions. It means contributing to the wider creative ecosystem by enabling conversations, encouraging new ideas and connecting Sri Lankan audiences with global voices.

The Geoffrey Bawa Trust plays an important role in uplifting Sri Lanka’s architecture and design ecosystem through platforms for learning, dialogue and creative exchange. Through the Annual Memorial Lecture, DesignTalk and other programmes, the Trust connects architects, designers, students and the public with leading ideas and practitioners, while encouraging collaboration and the continued development of Sri Lankan design.

Channa Daswatte, Chairperson of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts, said, “Our partnership with LANKATILES is important because the Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture brings new ideas to Sri Lanka, inspiring people through global perspectives and continuing Geoffrey Bawa’s legacy of encouraging generations to think differently, explore creativity and shape the future.”

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director of M+ in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District and a Trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts, said, “Without preserving our heritage, we do not know who we are. By looking to Geoffrey Bawa’s legacy, we draw lessons from the past to shape the future while protecting the earth for generations.”

Through this collaboration, LANKATILES is helping to sustain spaces that celebrate design and shape Sri Lankan architecture.

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The Geoffrey BawaMoonamal Award introduces a new way of thinking about design in Sri Lanka, one that considers the needs of people while giving equal importance to the land, water, wildlife and natural systems around them.

Launched by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust, the Award aims to recognise innovative design that promotes human coexistence with nature. These designs may span restored landscapes, biodiversity-conscious infrastructure, public spacesrooted in the context of their surroundings, or policies that guide the development of built environments in a more responsible direction.

The Award takes its name from the indigenous Moonamal tree at Lunuganga, Geoffrey Bawa’s garden in Bentota. The tree reflects a simple principle that underpins the Award: good design should respond to a place rather than overpower it. In the case of the Moonamal Award, the importance of place is tied to the ecological past and present of a site.

“The Moonamal Award is intended to be a national platform that brings to light alternative ways of designing human spaces”, said Channa Daswatte, Chairperson – Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts. “Sri Lanka already has a rich heritage of nature-conscious design, which is evident is ancient sites such as Ritigala and Kaludiya Pokuna. These precedents must be combined with global conversations – ideas like ‘sponge cities’ which combine ecological health with disaster mitigation, or long-range wildlife corridors which allow biodiversity to exist alongside human infrastructure. The Award is about identifying and incentivizing these efforts in Sri Lanka and showing that better outcomes are possible when different forms of knowledge come together.”

The Moonamal Award will consider applications under two streams. The Built Environment, which includes architecture, infrastructure, urban initiatives and landscape design; and Public Policy, which recognises policies that enable or encourage environmentally responsible design and constuction. It is open to individuals, organisations, community groups, public institutions and multidisciplinary teams, provided the work has been implemented in Sri Lanka.

Finding the existing norms of sustainable building inadequate to address complex ecological problems, the Award puts forward four key principles which will guide the assessment of entries. Projects should consider the needs of plants, animals and ecosystems alongside those of people; repair environmental damage; help natural systems recover; and involve collaboration across communities and professions. These principles are intended to guide practical ways of addressing issues such as erosion, polluted waterways, habitat loss, pressure on natural resources and construction that is poorly suited to its setting.

The Award also places Sri Lanka within a wider international conversation about how societies can grow without weakening the natural systems on which communities and economies depend. While many global examples draw from resource-rich countries, the Award aims to encourage projects which adapt and apply global thinking in local contexts.

“Encouraging such solutions is vital for communities in the global south, where the effects of the climate and biodiversity crises will be felt most strongly in the future”, added Daswatte.

Applications will open in August 2026 through an online portal. Eligible projects must have been implemented within the past ten years and completed for at least one year, allowing the results to be assessed over time. The inaugural shortlist and winner are expected to be announced in mid-2027.

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