A Grand venture
View(s):Top Property Group and L&A Publishing release Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya, a coffee table book
Top Property Group together with L&A Publishing recently released a lavish coffee table book on the iconic Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya. A project which was conceived during a brief visit to the hotel by Lara De Zoysa and Lasangi Bodaragama was brought to life in the form of this informative and beautifully illustrated coffee table book.
The history of Sri Lanka’s former British hill station of Nuwara Eliya and the story of the Grand Hotel are remarkably entwined and presented to the reader in the most creative format with a selection of stunning photographs, a press release from the publishers stated.
The book is authored by British-born Richard Boyle, resident in Sri Lanka for 30 years, who, after a career as a feature and documentary scriptwriter, became a specialist writer on the British colonial era. Boyle’s previous publications include Knox’s Words (2004), concerning the words of Sri Lankan origin introduced to British English by Robert Knox, and Sindbad in Serendib (2008), a collection of strange tales about the island.
The research for the book was done by architect Ismeth Raheem, who has specialised in the history of paintings and engravings of the colonial period in Sri Lanka. He has published several exhibition catalogues on the subject besides contributing to The Dictionary of Art (1998).
The captivating photographs for the book were done by architect Waruna Gomis who was one of the last assistants of internationally-acclaimed Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. The Grand Hotel in its original form, a governor’s residence called Barnes Hall, built in 1828 – was a vital component in the creation of Nuwara Eliya which became a centre for horse-racing, trout-fishing, and golfing from the 1870s and increasingly from the beginning of the 20th century a resort for Europeans.
Barnes Hall became the Grand Hotel in the early 1880s, and a series of expansions began in the 1890s when another floor was added to the original single-storied structure. Later a northern wing (now called the Golf Wing) was constructed and the hotel became the imposing three-storeyed building with its mock-Tudor façade that prevails today.
“The Top Property Group established in 2007 is a leading real estate agency in Sri Lanka engaging in a spectrum of activities, ranging from the ‘Top Properties’ magazine, to functioning as a real estate agent, to publishing, sales and marketing and interior design,” said Lara De Zoysa, Director Top Property Group.
Lasangi Bodaragama, Director L & A Publishing said, “Unlike other books, pictorial books demand a set of very specialised skills ranging from subject matter to details on interior, art, collectables etc. In order to publish a book on a certain subject, we have to work with the best people in the business and I am proud to say that we have a phenomenal team that put together this coffee table book on the Grand Hotel.”
The printing was executed by Gunaratne Offset Ltd, a leader in the printing industry with over 30 years experience in producing some of the best hard cover, periodicals and printed material in the country, the release stated.
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