Holcim Lanka has published “MAS Intimates Thurulie – Clothing factory in Sri Lanka” – a monograph on a groundbreaking example of sustainable construction in the manufacturing industry. The book clarifies in detail how the factory respects balanced social, environmental, and economic performance, delivers a functional and sensitive response to its unique setting, and sets an example of green building for Sri Lanka, the apparel industry, and industry worldwide.

The building is a visionary departure from traditional factory design, setting new standards for ethics and environmental stewardship in manufacturing. In fact, MAS Intimates Thurulie claims to be the world’s first clothing factory powered solely by renewable and carbon-neutral sources. To economically achieve a comfortable indoor environment, the design responds to the tropical climate with a full array of passive cooling measures and with an energy-efficient mechanical cooling system. The approach is effective – energy required for operation is 40 percent lower than that of comparable factories.

Designed for lean production, MAS Intimates Thurulie offers a pleasant and functional indoor environment that ideally supports manufacturing. Every occupant enjoys fresh air, natural light, comfortable surroundings, and beautiful outdoor views of intact nature. The indoor and outdoor spaces are woven into a green park with a natural lake. Harmonizing with the site, the building expresses respect for nature. Every drop of water on the site is carefully managed; consumption of potable water is half that of similar plants.

MAS Intimates Thurulie is not a sweatshop, but a workplace in unison with nature; not a sprawling footprint imposed upon its rural setting, but a preserver of habitat; not a carefree consumer of energy, but a miser. This extraordinary building invites architects and industrialists to rethink the factory as a building type.

The book was edited with support of the Swiss-based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction and illustrates how MAS Intimates Thurulie lives up to the five internationally-applied “target issues” for sustainable construction. The “target issues” address the triple bottom line of economic, environmental, and social factors, together with architectural quality and the potential to apply the innovation in other locations.

MAS Intimates Thurulie – Clothing factory in Sri Lanka
Published by Holcim (Lanka) Ltd, 2008
80 pages, 100 illustrations, 15 x 21 cm, in English