Colombo’s highly anticipated Orion City Towers opened last month. The 500,000 square foot structure will be occupied by Sri Lanka’s corporate sector and forms a part of the developmental master plan of the Orion City IT Park, a press release stated. The towers at 85 meters- offer up to 20 levels of office space for rent with ancillary facilities such as retail and commercial areas, a boutique sky hotel, green eco decks and a sky courtyard. The topmost floor holds a fully equipped gym, business centre, lounge areas, meeting venues and private dining facilities. “Occupants will never want for anything once they enter the complex. We’ve built Orion Towers, to be a city within a city- the crown jewel of the Orion City IT Park. Buildings should challenge and inspire- our partnership with DP Architects Singapore and the Balmond Studio has delivered a stunning structure for work and play.” Orion City, Managing Director, E.J. Gnanam said. ‘Tower One’ opened for occupation in July. The first level of the tower is a retail mall space with banks, a laundromat, homeware, supermarket and bakery; and a food court at the second level, with parking spaces from levels 3-8. Level 9 will hold a co-working space called ‘NEST’. The office spaces will be housed in levels 10- 18 with a business hotel managed by Elyon on levels 19-20. The tower also includes a sky garden, restaurant and bar. “For the Orion Towers Project, our aim was also to create office spaces which met international standards needed to foster start-ups, positioning them on par with the world’s leaders in business,” General Manager of Orion Towers, Wickremaratne said. Wickremaratne further said, “We are extremely excited to be able to open our doors to the public and to our current and future tenants, and we look forward to seeing our vision through for the benefit of the buzzing start-up sector in Sri Lanka.” Tower ONE is said to conform to stringent international standards and regulations and is also LEED Gold. Orion offers its occupants energy saving systems to enable 24/7 operations, fully serviced stations, plug-and-play workstations and expandable offices. Companies can use the Orion address as a virtual office while Orion NEST aims to provide a nurturing environment for start-up growth. Orion NEST will encourage likeminded start-ups to share a co- working space with each other and network with established industry leaders. The entire building overlooks Baseline Road in Colombo 09-close proximity to city’s commercial hubs with enough space for companies to breathe, think and grow. The city within a city concept means everything a company needs is at its fingertips, says Head of Marketing, Jehanki Anandha. Anandha said, “Orion City brings end to end IT infrastructure solutions for IT and BPO companies. IT companies thrive when they work in proximity to each other. Costs could be reduced while innovation and collaboration could be strengthened. That’s the vision for the Orion City IT Park and Orion Towers by extension.” Orion Towers is housed within the country’s largest IT hub, located on Baseline Road - Colombo 09: The Orion City IT Park. The flagship development of the St. Anthony’s Group- one of the largest privately-owned groups in Sri Lanka- was launched in 2014. Construction of the major project started in 2015, and ever since its announcement in 2014, has attracted from both local and foreign investors. As testament to the fact, the towers boasted 100% occupancy on the opening day, with big names IFS, Virtusa, CAMSO, Synopsys, MOQ and many more all geared to commence operations from their new office address.