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Tuesday, 27 September 2016 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
A modern-day architectural marvel is taking physical shape before Colombo’s eyes, as Altair’s iconic twin towers rise into city sky at remarkable speed.
Promoter Indocean Developers reports that the building gained six floors in August – a benchmark given the intricacies of its structural design – and had reached its 32nd level by the third week of September.
Designed by the celebrated global architectural genius Moshe Safdie, Altair will on completion in 2017 comprise of a 63-storey ‘leaning’ tower and a taller 68-storey vertical tower. It will have 400 luxury apartments that offer spectacular views of the Beira Lake, the Indian Ocean and the city of Colombo.
“We are making excellent progress and are on schedule,” said J. Domingo, Project Manager from SWA, Altair’s Project Management Consultant. “Casting six floors in a month while ensuring International Specification Requirements pertaining to quality and safety are maintained, is a new benchmark in the Sri Lankan construction industry.”
Altair’s local Structural Engineer Deepal Wickramasinghe commended the project’s contractor Shapoorji Pallonji Lanka Ltd. for the feat of building six floors in a month despite the inherent structural complexities and composite nature of the construction that requires involvement of multiple trades.
“Achieving completion of six floors a month in a masterpiece of its kind, while overcoming the logistics challenges and managing the cultural change involving various stakeholders is indeed a hard task,” Shapoorji Pallonji Lanka Ltd. Project Director Baiju Ramakrishnan added. “Our commitment, dedication, hard work and international expertise in high rise construction are the factors that have made this possible.”
Designed to be a game changer in contemporary living in Sri Lanka, Altair will bring a new dimension in aesthetics to Colombo’s skyline. It is intended to be a one-of-its-kind development in South Asia in terms of architectural design, structural engineering, and living experience. The development’s 1.5 million square feet of high-end eco-friendly living space will be supported by 40,000 square feet of supportive up-market retail space.
Breaking new ground in the local property development market, Altair has installed a 24-hour live stream from its construction site, enabling anyone to monitor progress. The live feed can be accessed via the Altair website www.altair.lk from anywhere in the world. It provides a real-time view of construction work from five different angles, with the views switching every 12 seconds.
The Altair building under construction
