Lloyd's Building is a prominent five-storey 19th century building located on Sir Baron Jayatilaka Mawatha (formerly Prince Street),
Colombo Fort
Fort (Colombo) (; ) is the central business district of Colombo in Sri Lanka. It is the financial district of Colombo and the location of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the World Trade Centre of Colombo from which the CSE operates. It is ...
.
The building was constructed in 1908 and originally named the 'Freudenberg Building'. It was designed by
Edward Skinner and constructed by Clifford Lake and Company.
Initially, the main occupant of the building was Freudenberg and Company, an import and export company. Freudenberg and Company was established on 1 July 1873 by Philipp Freudenberg, initially as a coffee trading company but it went onto expand into banking, imports and exports, oil milling, as well as being the agency for a number of German shipping companies, including
Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...
and the Deutsche Ost-Africa Linie Steamship Company. Freudenberg also served as the Imperial German Consul to Ceylon from 1876 to 1906.
By 1917 several floors of the building were leased out to Colombo Apothecaries Company Ltd, Shanghai Life Insurance Company, Morrison and Bell,
Standard Oil Company
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
, C. W. Mackie and Company, Clark Young and Company,
Vacuum Oil Company
Vacuum Oil Company was an American oil company known for its ''Gargoyle'' 600-W steam cylinder motor oil. After being taken over by the original Standard Oil Company and then becoming independent again, in 1931 Vacuum Oil merged with the Standar ...
and the Consul for the United States of America.
[ In 1918 it was purchased by ]Aitken Spence
Aitken Spence PLC ( si, එයිට්කින් ස්පෙන්ස්; ta, எய்ட்கின் ஸ்பென்ஸ்) is a Sri Lankan blue chip conglomerate with operations in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacif ...
(the sole agent of Lloyd's of London in Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
) and made it the company's headquarters, renaming it the Lloyd's Building.
In 1933, the joint owners of the building, Ian Woodford Aitken, Henry Seymour Jeaffreson, Basil Walter Cuthbert Leefe and Walter Edward Moncrieff Paterson, sold the building to Ceylon and General Properties Ltd.[ In 1950 ownership of the building was transferred to Badrawathie Fernando Estate Ltd and subsequently in 1957 to United Ceylon Insurance Company Ltd.][
In 2009 the ]Central Bank of Sri Lanka
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; si, ශ්රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, Sri Lanka Maha Bankuwa) is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA), it is a ...
purchased the building, to address the needs of the bank's growing office.[ The renovated building was officially opened on 1 June 2011 by ]Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan militar ...
, Secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
to the , and Ajith Nivard Cabraal
Ajith Nivard Cabraal ( si, අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල්) (born 14 December 1954) is a Sri Lankan accountant and politician who was also the 16th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He is also the former State ...
, Governor of the Central Bank.
This building signifies British architectural heritage of the late 19th century. The richly decorated conference room, elegant marble corridors, classical motifs, quaint woodwork and attractive exterior design of the building symbolize commercial heyday of early 20th century in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
References
External links
3D model of Lloyd's Building
2018 Sunday Observer article
{{Colombo fort, state=collapsed
Buildings and structures in Colombo
British colonial architecture in Sri Lanka
Commercial buildings completed in 1908