Number 11 Geoffrey Bawa House Tour

Number 11 is the Colombo home of the architect Geoffrey Bawa, and the guided tours run by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust are the only way to see inside. The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac off Bagatelle Road in Colombo 3, under a frangipani tree, and it is not open to the public outside tour times.

The house tells the story of Bawa's working life. It began as the third of four small row houses, which Bawa rented from the lawyer, writer and arts patron Harold Peiris in 1959. Within ten years he had bought all four and carried out a major renovation to create the house that stands today. Bawa described it as containing the essentials of life in Sri Lanka, and its spaces expand and contract as you move through them, from a narrow entrance into a broad living area and back into smaller enclaves such as the bedroom and dining area. Light enters from above and through courtyards open to the sky, and one critic called it a small fortress, built to keep unwelcome elements out. The rooms hold art and artefacts from Bawa's collection, and the ground-floor annexe later served as his office.

Tours last 45 minutes and run at 10am, 2pm and 3.30pm from Monday to Friday, at 11am and 4pm on Saturday, and at 11am on Sunday. Reservations are recommended, though tickets are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, and private tours with the Trust's curators can be arranged by appointment. Children under seven enter free. Personal photography without flash or tripods is allowed in the outdoor spaces, and third-party tours are not permitted, so book directly with the Trust.

Part of the house is also available to stay in. A first-floor suite and a self-contained ground-floor suite with its original furniture and artworks are let to guests, and if the guest suite is occupied it is not shown on the tour.

The tour pairs naturally with lunch or dinner at The Gallery Café, which occupies Bawa's former offices on Alfred House Road, and with a visit to the Seema Malakaya on Beira Lake, his rebuilt temple pavilion. For a full day of Bawa, the Trust also runs garden tours at Lunuganga, his country estate near Bentota.