Some of his favorite places are ambalamas, traditional shelters for travelers that consist of little more than a pyramid-shaped tiled roof supported by wooden columns and sheltering a four-sided bench. The traveler’s rest house concept appears in some of Mr. Anjalendran’s projects, including Mr. Young’s plantation estate and an orphans’ home on the south coast operated by the British-based charity SOS Children.
Mr. Young met Mr. Anjalendran about a decade ago during his search for an architect for the house at the cinnamon estate. A colleague in Colombo recommended that he meet Mr. Anjalendran but warned that the architect had a reputation for being extremely difficult.
Mr. Anjalendran was difficult. He hung up when Mr. Young suggested a Sunday meeting, then said he would not work with Mr. Young unless the two men made a trip along the coast to see the site as well as some of Mr. Bawa’s projects.