Nestled in the Hantana mountain range that forms the southern edge of the Kandyan valley, this three-bedroom house is a rebirth of an old, single-storey dwelling that was leftover at the site to be demolished and pave the way for new residential construction. Isolated among the tea bushes of its plantation land, the old house was a monolithic rectangle of tight spaces, dark rooms, flat ceilings and dilapidated building portions; neither was it acknowledging the stunning views of the hills bordering the plantation, nor did it have interiors pleasant enough to live and enjoy. Tearing down this derelict building was indeed an inevitability to happen.

The phasing of the construction at the site followed a strategy that ...

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