A self-shaded tower in Vietnam

Building on the design of Techcombank’s headquarters in Hanoi, Foster + Partners has completed construction of a second headquarters for the company in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The new structure, a twenty-one-story office tower, is structured around two approaches: programmatic – adapting to different tenants and uses – and environmental – self-shaded building that works with the tropical climate. The project aims to obtain LEED Platinum certification.

After Hanoi, the architecture studio Foster + Partners designed the second office tower for the company Techcombank in Ho Chi Minh City, in the south of Vietnam. Located on a double-fronted plot, the main entrance is on Boulevard Le Duan and a second on Rue Nguyen Du. Vertically, the building is made up of two blocks, the core of which is located at the rear facing the adjacent hotel, and between them, a recessed space housing the amenities floor for employees. Inside, three central atriums flood the offices with light. The first rises from the ground floor to level 9, while the second and third reach the full height of the building from levels 11 and 14. These spectacular surfaces provide visual connectivity throughout the building and contribute to generate a collaborative and inclusive workplace by integrating meeting space “pods”. Additionally, the edges of the floors feature a sawtooth pattern derived from the angles of the sun. Their orientation allows the tower to effectively self-shade and create a textured facade. One edge faces the sun and is covered with a screen, while the opposite side is clear glass that does not receive direct sunlight but offers a clear view of the city and its surroundings.