Sustainable, green restoration of Sri Lankan village of Kirinda takes top honor at MIPIM BOSTON, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The ground-breaking reconstruction project created by leading global property consultants Colliers International which used a sustainable, green vision to rebuild the Sri Lankan village of Kirinda after the 2004 tsunami has won the residential awards at the world's premier real estate summit, MIPIM. The MIPIM summit, held March 13-16 in Cannes, convenes the most influential decision makers in the market. Shigeru Ban, the architect hailed by TIME Magazine as one of the Top 100 innovators of the 21st century, worked with the Colliers Kirinda Trust, set up by Colliers International, to reconstruct the village. He and his team donated their time to produce a radical vision that embraces local traditions and materials (the houses were constructed with rubber tree wood, coconut wood, teak, and sun-dried earthen blocks, natural materials chosen for their durability, strength and beauty) and conforms to the highest environmental standards. Ban's design ensures that the houses can breathe in the heat and that air can circulate freely inside - whereas historically, homes made from concrete forced occupiers to sit outside during the hot dry season. Additionally, all wood for Ban's project was purchased from local tree farms, which has kept money flowing through the local economy. Finally, 100 percent solar-powered street lighting has been introduced to the neighborhood - a groundbreaking step for this area. Following the success of the Kirinda project, MIPIM has announced a "green building" award for 2008 for buildings designed and used in a "sustained, ecological manner." The President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse, has praised the project. "I would like to express, on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka, heartfelt thanks for the contributions that Colliers, Shigeru Ban and partners have made to rebuild the community in Kirinda," he noted. "They took an extremely professional approach, developed the highest standard designs, used the most appropriate local materials and consulted both our experts and the local people to ensure the end product matched displaced families' needs. The project has become the standard for ongoing tsunami reconstruction work in Sri Lanka -- and Colliers has quite rightly received international recognition and acclaim for its efforts." Notes to Editors: Colliers International is a global affiliation of independently owned commercial real estate firms. The organization's 9,327 employees span the world in 241 offices in 54 countries. On a worldwide basis, Colliers manages 595,725,580 square feet, and has revenue of $US 1,442,478,223.
