VAUX Park Street / Explore Colombo
Stay where the routes begin. VAUX Park Street is eight serviced lofts at 60/10 Park Street, Colombo 02, next door to Park Street Mews, with a rooftop pool and a 24/7 concierge. Every itinerary on this page starts at our door.
A Geoffrey Bawa trail
Geoffrey Bawa (1919–2003) is Sri Lanka’s most celebrated architect and a master of what came to be called tropical modernism: buildings that open up to the breeze and the garden, blur inside and outside, and borrow freely from the island’s temples, manor houses and courtyards.
You do not have to go far to see his work. A lake pavilion he redesigned floats on Beira Lake 470 m from our door, his Colombo home and his former office are both within 2 km, and his Parliament rises from a lake on the edge of the city. Beyond Colombo, his country garden at Lunuganga and his coastal hotels make a beautiful day out.
This trail starts at VAUX. Distances in the city are straight-line from our door; further afield, we give the time by car.
In Colombo
Route from VAUX on Google Maps- 470 m
Seema Malaka
A meditation pavilion for Gangaramaya Temple, rebuilt to Bawa’s design in the 1970s on three platforms floating on Beira Lake, linked by pontoon bridges. Its simple tiled roofs and rows of seated Buddhas against the water are a lesson in restraint.
Open daily 6am to 10pm, with a small ticket for visitors. Cover shoulders and knees, and remove your shoes.
Directions from VAUX - 1.6 km
Number 11
Bawa’s own home on a quiet lane in Colombo 3, made by joining four small bungalows and adding a tower, into a maze of courtyards, light wells and corridors still filled with his art and furniture. The Geoffrey Bawa Trust runs guided tours of about 45 minutes.
No booking needed: just walk in for the next tour. Tours run Monday to Friday at 10am, 2pm and 3:30pm; Saturday at 11am and 4pm; Sunday at 11am. The house is not wheelchair accessible.
Directions from VAUX - 2 km
The Gallery Café
Bawa’s architectural office for decades, now Paradise Road’s Gallery Café: a calm run of courtyards, a reflecting pool and deep verandahs, with changing exhibitions in the gallery. Come for lunch or a long drink in the space he worked in.
Open daily 10am to midnight. Book for dinner.
Directions from VAUX
On the edge of the city
- 7.4 km
Parliament of Sri Lanka
Bawa’s great public building, completed in 1982: a cluster of copper-roofed pavilions rising from an island in the Diyawanna Lake at Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.
The building is not usually open to casual visitors. See it from the lakeside paths at Diyatha Uyana, which also has cafés and boat rides.
Directions from VAUX
Beyond Colombo
Route from VAUX on Google Maps- 1 hr
The Blue Water, Wadduwa
A late Bawa hotel on the coast south of Colombo, with long colonnades, a reflecting pool and a palm grove running down to the sea. A good lunch stop on the way to Bentota.
Directions from VAUX - 1¾ hrs
Lunuganga
Bawa’s country estate near Bentota and his most personal work, a garden of rooms, vistas and pavilions he shaped for about fifty years around a lake.
Public garden tours run daily at 11am, 2pm and 3pm and take about 90 minutes; no booking needed. For lunch or tea, email enquiries@teardrop-hotels.com. Paths are steep and uneven.
Directions from VAUX - 2 hrs
Brief Garden
The garden of his older brother, the landscape designer Bevis Bawa, a few kilometres inland: wilder and more playful, with sculpture, statues and murals by Donald Friend in the house.
Open daily 8am to 4pm, with separate tickets for the garden and the house.
Directions from VAUX - 2 hrs
Jetwing Lighthouse, Galle
Bawa’s hotel on the rocks outside Galle Fort, famous for the spiral staircase wrapped in Laki Senanayake’s battle sculpture. Pair it with an afternoon in the fort.
Directions from VAUX - Overnight
Heritance Kandalama
Bawa’s jungle hotel near Dambulla, built along a rock face and now almost swallowed by forest. A night here pairs well with Sigiriya.
Directions from VAUX
Number 11 and Lunuganga are cared for by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust, and tour times can change: check geoffreybawa.com before you go. We can organise a car or van with an experienced driver through our trusted transport partner, for day drives, day trips, airport pickups and drop-offs. Message our concierge on WhatsApp at +94 777 90 8289 or email stay@vaux.co for prices and details.
These routes start at VAUX Park Street, a short walk from Park Street Mews. Book direct and enjoy early check-in when available, or see what is on our doorstep.
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Stay in the middle of it all
VAUX Park Street is a collection of eight serviced lofts in Colombo 02, next door to Park Street Mews, with a rooftop pool and a 24/7 concierge. Every route on this page starts at our door.
Book direct and enjoy early check-in when available.
