Financial Tower Ho Chi Minh City
The BITEXCO Financial Tower is an iconic symbol of the development of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s economic capital. Housing offices and businesses, the tower asserts its identity through its height and its geometry of taut curves rising up from the dense city below. Located in the heart of the city near the river Saigon, the tower stands at the intersection of three streets (Hai Trieu, Ho Tung Mau and Ngo Duc Ke).
Shaped like a huge leaf curled in on itself and opening out to the sky, the tower evokes both nature and traditional architecture and objects made from assembled or woven plant material. The tower’s complex geometry consists of inclined cylinders linked together by truncated cones. The sculptural quality of the tower is heightened at night by white lighting that emphasizes the sheer vertical of the west façade, the pinnacle of the tower and the underside of the helipad (helicopter platform) which juts out by 25 metres.
The 68-storey tower stands on a base whose first five floors house a shopping mall, conference facilities and restaurants.The ground floor is extended by an esplanade and terraces planted with trees.
Most of the tower itself is given over to offices. The upper part above the helipad comprises 18 prestige floors, a panoramic bar and a VIP restaurant.
The offices are served by double-deck lifts inside the tower’s central core. They are controlled by a grouped call system to minimize waiting time. An express service runs from the ground floor to the public and VIP levels on the 50th floor, where visitors enjoy an incomparable view over the city and the river.
The technical rooms are on the 29th and 30th floors and at the top of the tower. Cooling towers are located abovethe shopping mall and on several levels of the basement, where the generators and oil and water tanks are also housed.
The glass panels on the façades incorporate screen-printed motifs (varying in density according to their position) which soften glare and provide protection from the sun. Inside, wooden louvred shutters filter the light in the upper and lower parts of the windows. This interplay of materials again echoes the traditional Vietnamese art of weaving and assembling natural materials.
The construction of the BITEXCO Financial Tower involved an international design team. They have created a pioneering building and a landmark for today’s Vietnam.
Geometric design
The tower’s coherent geometric design was crucial to the feasibility of its sculptural form, rendered by different types of glass units. The shell of a standard level module is formed by inclined cylinders. Curved glass is used in the four cylinders marking the curvature of the façade at the four points of the compass. Flat glass is used in segments in the side cylinders. The cylinders are linked by joining panels. The façade leans outwards up to the 22nd floor, creating an overhang. Above this floor it leans inwards as the tower narrows towards its top. Below the helipad is a projecting conical structure of curved glass, while the part of the tower above the helipad is cut away by an inclined cylinder section of flat glass segments.
Details of the façade
The double-glazing system used for the façade incorporates white screen-printing on the second face and an anti-sun coating on the third face. The glass was produced in Europe and transported to China for screen-printing, curving and assembly. The aluminium millwork components were produced in South Korea and transported to Vietnam, where the glass panels were assembled in a dedicated workshop. The relief of the spaced joints between the panels adds a rhythmic effect to the façade.
Construction
Building work lasted four years. During the first 18 months the foundation piles were sunk (to a depth of 75 m) and a moulded wall was built. Work then started on the tower’s concrete superstructure – including the bottom slab and central core – and three basement levels. The tower’s reinforced concrete core was cast on the bottom slab (several levels at a time), followed by the exterior columns. The steel structure required to support the helipad was brought to the site by boat. After inspection and a full assembly test, the girders were hoisted by crane for cantilevered assembly at a height of 190 m.
Lifts
The tower relies on a highly efficient vertical circulation system. Double-deck lifts take office staff from the ground floor to odd-numbered floors and from the first floor to even-numbered floors. One lobby has five lifts serving the lower floors and a second lobby has five lifts for the higher floors. The second lobby also has two express lifts to carry the public to the panoramic lounge and VIP areas on the same level as the presidential offices above the helipad. The lifts are controlled by a call-grouping system to reduce waiting time. Lifts are identified by their number and the colour of their lacquered glass.
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