Mano Ponniah (full name Charles Edward Manoharan Ponniah) is a Sri Lankan architect and engineer. He was educated at the St. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia in Colombo, Sri Lanka and studied Engineering at Colombo University, from 1962 to 1965. Alongside his studies, Ponniah played cricket on the university team, as right-handed batsman and leg-spin bowler. He was selected to play for the Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) national team, as an opening batsman and was part of the team that beat Pakistan, at Colombo, in 1964, and toured India in 1964-65. In 1966 Ponniah travelled to the UK where he took an architecture degree, and excelled as a cricket blue, at the University of Cambridge. He was selected for 1968 England tour by the Ceylon national team but sadly the tour was cancelled at the last moment. In 1970, Mano is recorded as enrolling in the postgraduate programme run by the Architectural Association’s Department of Development and Tropical Studies, in London. According to the AA Student Register, Ponniah was tutored by Pat Wakely and duly gained his postgraduate Diploma in the summer of 1971. Upon graduation, Ponniah practiced architecture in England until 1990, when he returned to Colombo, Sri Lanka, founding his architectural practice, Mano Ponniah and Associates. The practice quickly developed and Mano won major contracts from companies including Arpico and Aitken Spence Hotels. For the latter he developed a 200 bed hotel at Club Rannali, in the Maldives (1995-96), together with a series of floating luxury chalets and bungalows. He was to continue to work in the hospitality and resort sector, designing major projects for Aitken Spence at Hudhuradfushi island (2008) and Vaadhoo island (2009). He has also worked with Anilana Hotels and Resorts, producing their developments at Passikudah (2013) and Nilaveli (2014). Outside of the hospitality sector, Mano has designed offices and warehouses for DHL (2020), a major factory complex for CBL Biscuits, in Ranala (2012), and the Centenary Building, for the Sri Lankan Institute of Engineers (2018). Mano’s practice has won 3 Sri Lanka Institute of Architecture awards. A long-term member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Mano also served as a trustee in relation to their donation of over £650,000 for reconstruction projects following the devastating Tsunami of 2004. He has similarly provided architectural services for fellow cricketer, Kushil Gunasekara’s social welfare organisation, the Foundation of Goodness.
Sources
- Architectural Association Student Register, 1970-71. AA Archives
- Architectural Association Diploma Roll Book, 1970-71. AA Archives
- ‘Bashful batsman and articulate architect’ Sunday Observer [Sri Lanka], 31st January 2010. Accessed 13th Feb., 2026: https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2001/pix/PrintPage.asp?REF=/2010/01/31/spo40.asp
- Mano Ponniah, interview with Edward Bottoms, 3rd September, 2024.
