Railway Transit Square - Ella, Sri Lanka Part 1 Project 2025 Ushantha Weerasinghe City School of Architecture | Sri Lanka The Ella railway transit square reimagines a transit space as an experience. Positioned beside Sri Lanka’s iconic Ella railway station, this mixed-use public transport and tourism hub transforms a congested and underutilized site into a local public landmark that showcases Ella and its intermixed community of locals and tourists.Conceptualized as a “gateway to Ella” the built form expresses horizontal and vertical movement through a translucent ETFE facade that performs as a breathable shell. The activity inside moves through gathering areas, shaded walkways, tea tasting courtyards and cultural event zones which function as pauses, offering an immersive experience to its visitors making it possible to build connections with locals. As this building sits as a landmark at a higher elevation of Ella, The translucent imagery of movement paints an abstract of the busy flow of tourism to be seen by the townContextual sustainability has been achieved by integrating the use of recycled railway steel, passive cooling, natural ventilation and water harvesting systems into the buildings architecture as a response to the tropical highland climate. Communal participation in the functioning of the building provides support and empowerment to the local context of Ella ensuring longevity of the transport hubIts functions change with the arrival and departure of trains—creating a space that pulses with shifting energy throughout the day. Thus, making the square a crossing point and a destination by giving moments of pauses to explore between the motion. Tutor(s)