Cinnamon Life in Colombo

Sri Lanka's capital Colombo is one of the emerging cities in South Asia. A 4.5 million m² "city within the city" is currently being created here with the Cinnamon Life building complex. This mammoth project is the first highlight in the still young alliance in Sri Lanka between MC India and its new partner Hayleys Aventura (Pvt) Limited.

Colombo looks back on a long and eventful history. Thanks to its natural harbour, the metropolis has attracted merchant ships from all parts of the world for over 2,000 years. To this day, the area around the harbour – known as Slave Island – remains the commercial and cultural centre of the city. The ultra-modern building complex Cinnamon Life, designed by the Sri Lankan-British designer and artist Cecil Balmond, is due for completion here in mid 2021. The mixed-use construction will include entertainment facilities, 427 private apartments, 30 floors of commercial office space and five floors of retail outlets. The heart of this iconic real estate, already nicknamed "Colombo's Life Capital", will be the 5-star Cinnamon Hotel. With 800 rooms, 50 suites as well as versatile banquet and conference rooms for more than 4,700 people, the hotel has been conceived to meet the growing demand forecast for Colombo in the future.

 

Good screed pumpability and workability essential

Following the signing of a cooperation agreement between Sri Lanka-based Hayleys Aventura (Private) Limited and MC India as recently as September 2019, the two partners have now completed their first major joint project in Colombo. S&T Interiors and Contracting, a subsidiary of Hayleys, was commissioned to plan the interior design of this extraordinary hotel complex. Among the challenges encountered, a solution had to be found to pumping the screed concrete over longer distances allowing efficient placement on a floor area of approx. 13,600 m² extending across the huge construction site. In particular, the laying contractor, Tudawe Brothers (Pvt) Ltd. from Colombo, needed the guarantee that the screed would remain readily workable over a sufficient period of time.

High-performance superplasticiser as the key to success

During the preliminary trials, closely monitored by an application engineer from MC India, a high-performance superplasticiser from the MC-TechniFlow series, based on the latest PCE generation, was found to produce the best results, finally convincing the planning engineers that a solution to the problem had been found. Just small quantities are sufficient to achieve very good screed flowability, easy pumpability and very good workability. It is further characterised by a reduction in the effort required during placement, spreading and compaction, as well as a high-quality surface finish.

 

By the time the huge construction project in Colombo is completed, around 80,000 litres of high-performance MC-TechniFlow superplasticiser will have been shipped from India to Sri Lanka – a real logistical challenge for MC in India, which has so far successfully managed this, the first project of this size involving a neighbouring country.