In the design of 1864 and The Wine Lounge, a contemporary fine dining restaurant and wine bar within Colombo’s historic Galle Face Hotel the challenges were one of a different kind- one which required the firm to balance the sensitivity of the historical context of the hotel with the new demands of infusing a contemporary language. One of Asia’s oldest hotels, the Galle face hotel under- went a renovation in its southern wing to house The Regency, a modern boutique hotel. As the architects began to strip layers of the structure it revealed interesting building materials, which were retained and used as highlights in the space. The colonnade of arches was stripped of their plaster to reveal the original brick wall. The entire right side wall of the wine lounge was also stripped to reveal the beauty of thin strips of teak wood lathe in plaster, which is back lit.
