Hatton National Bank Building (Colombo Fort)

Colombo Hatton National Bank Building (Photo credit: Google Street View)

The old Colombo Hatton National Bank Building (Sinhala: කොළඹ හැටන් නැෂනල් බැංකු ගොඩනැගිල්ල) is located at No. 16, Janadipathi Mawatha in Colombo Fort, Sri Lanka. Presently, the building has been designated as an archaeological protected monument by the government through the gazette notification published on 8 October 1999 (Sujata, 2020).

This Neo-Classical building is said to have been constructed in 1901 (Manathunga, 2016). It is a four-storey building with an underground basement (Manathunga, 2016; Sujata, 2020). As revealed in the early 20th century literature, this building was occupied by the Merchant Bank of India Limited (from 1931 to 1961) and the upper floor by the Whitehall & Company (Sujata, 2020; Welandawe & Weerasinghe, 2016). In 1961, it was occupied by the Hatton National Bank (HNB), one of the oldest banks in the country (Sujata, 2020). HNB Bank was established in the 19th century (1888) as a small private bank catering to the banking needs of investors in tea plantations (Manathunga, 2016; Welandawe & Weerasinghe, 2016).

The building has undergone renovations from time to time (Sujata, 2020). Some of the original arches have been replaced with quadrangle windows and doors and the front wall surfaces have been decorated with horizontal lines (Sujata, 2020).