Original building On 29 January 1930 the British Governor of
Ceylon, Sir Herbert Stanley (1927–1931), opened a
building fronting the ocean at Galle Face, Colombo, designed for meetings of the Legislative Council. It was subsequently used by the State Council (1931–1947), the House of Representatives (1947–1972), the National State Assembly (1972–1977) and the Parliament of Sri Lanka (1977–1981). Today the
Old Parliament Building is used by the
Presidential Secretariat.
Relocation proposal In 1967 under Speaker Sir
Albert F. Peris, the leaders of the political parties unanimously resolved that a new Parliament building should be constructed on the opposite side of Beira Lake from the existing Parliament at Galle Face, but no further action was taken. While
Stanley Tillekeratne was the Speaker (1970–77), the leaders of the political parties entrusted the drawing up of plans for a new Parliament building to architects, but the project was subsequently abandoned.
Current building On 4 July 1979, then Prime Minister
Ranasinghe Premadasa obtained sanction from Parliament to construct a new Parliament Building at
Duwa, a island in the
Diyawanna Oya (off Baddegana Road, Pita
Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte) about east of
Colombo. The island was where the palace of the King Vikramabahu III's powerful Minister Nissaka Alakesvara had been situated. It had belonged to
E. W. Perera prior to being vested in the state. The building was designed by architect
Deshamanya Geoffrey Bawa and built by a Japanese consortium of two
Mitsui Group companies for a cost of over $25.4 million
US. The project was completed on a scheduled time of 26 months. It was officially opened on 29 April 1982 by then President
J. R. Jayewardene. ==Architecture==