Oral Histories: Dr. K. Poologasundram

The brilliant engineer Dr. K. Poologasundram began consulting with Geoffrey Bawa informally in 1960 while the latter was working with the State Cement Corporation and by 1966 they were equal partners at Edwards Reid and Begg. They would go on to run the firm together for 3 decades. Dr. K. Poologasundram’s engineering prowess helped bring Geoffrey’s designs to life and in our interview he reminisces about projects including the Parliament, Bentota Beach Hotel and Ruhunu University. Curator, Shayari de Silva met Dr. K. Poologasundram at his home in Colombo, a short walk away from their former office situated at No. 2 Alfred House Road. He speaks about the rewarding and challenging nature of working with a uniquely gifted architect like Geoffrey. Dr. K. Poologasundram’s shared stories on how to operate a practice, and it was clear that the implicit understanding between him and Geoffrey on the creative and organizational requirements of architecture was what allowed them to realize so many incredible buildings together. The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to [email protected].