Ho Chi Minh City Skyscraper Boom Continues

Work is due to begin on another skyscraper for the burgeoning city of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) transforming a non-descript backwater plot into rising glass and steel.

The 152-metre tall, 40 floor BIDV Tower is by DP Architects, a firm from Singapore who beat off competition by Ho Thieu Tri Architects and AREP back in 2007. The scheme was originally due to start construction in 2008 but this has been delayed due to the need to clear the plot of its residents so development can go ahead.

Starting the tower at the base is a large podium topped by a roof garden. This cantilevers out over the entrance area with a Y beam at the front of it for additional support. At ground level the tower is further recessed along the sides and back with structural columns and cross-bracing connecting with the ground level.

The cross-bracing and Y beams are a recurring visual motif throughout the tower with the underside of the podium featuring diagonal structural steel, and the rest of the podium framed with diamondesque cladding of steel over the semi transparent blue glazing.

Running up the faces of the main tower are is a regular pattern of an equilateral triangle with each floor projecting out at an slant, before angling back in again giving the building a serrated profile along its edges. At the skyscrapers back corner, concealing the service shaft is perforated metal grille that runs up the full length of the tower.

Whilst this continues for entire skyscraper, the main bulk of the building steps back on the upper floors revealing standard glass curtain walling instead of the projecting triangular façade allowing a crown visible from a distance that can be illuminated at night as well as a roof garden for the executives to enjoy.

The BIDV Tower is just the latest skyscraper to be planned for Ho Chi Minh City, which still has a skyline without a single completed building over 150 metres tall.

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