“An entire and striking design strategy” – Holcim Awards Jury

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Faculties and main circulation.

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    Holcim Award Silver 2008 prize winning team (l-r): Daisuke Sanuki, architect, Tokyo University of Science, Chiba, Japan; Kazuhiro Kojima, main author and architect, Coelacanth and Associates, Tokyo, Japan; and Vo Trong Nghia, architect, Vo Trong Nghia Co., Ltd, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

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    Presentation of the Holcim Award Silver 2008 prize (l-r): Daisuke Sanuki (team member), Paul Hugentobler (member of the Executive Committee of Holcim Ltd), Kazuhiro Kojima, Vo Trong Nghia (both team members), and Aidan Lynam (CEO of Holcim Vietnam).

The crucial starting point of this new campus situated on an island in the Mekong Delta was the question of how space and education could coexist and how connectivity and separation between the different university departments could be realized. Further challenges were the seasonal climatic variation with high temperatures, strong winds and heavy rainfalls as well as the large variation of the surrounding sea level.

Last updated: June 05, 2008 Shanghai, China

The proposed solution strives for a maximum integration of the new campus into the natural environment, an extensive application of passive design in order to reduce air conditioning use and to create as much outside shaded space as possible.

The general layout of the site is driven by the idea of using the strong winds for natural ventilation of buildings and open circulation areas. The heavy rainfalls will be collected and stored in order to meet potable and grey water requirements. Energy consumption will be reduced by passive design and a maximum use of daylight.

The jury commended this project because the new campus design is an entire response to the environment based on a surprisingly simple idea which produces unexpected aesthetic and spatial experiences. Its striking design strategy makes it a robust system amenable to adaptation and change responding to the evolving needs of the user community.