Using 42,000 bamboo shoots, Vo Trong Nghia Architects has created an impressive welcome center for the Grand World Phu Quoc. Sustainability is at the heart of the Vietnamese firm’s design philosophy and this project is the culmination of its use of bamboo. Combining arches, domes, and grids, the firm has created a centerpiece for the resort with a design rooted in the country’s culture.
With a footprint of over 15,000 square feet, the center cuts an imposing figure and is immediately noticeable as guests enter the resort area. Charged with designing a structure that embodies Vietnamese culture, the firm concentrated on two traditional symbols—the lotus and the bronze drum.
To put together the welcome center, the architects harnessed the knowledge they have cultivated when using bamboo in previous projects. They used a hybrid system with interlocking layers to create a stable structure that also feels open and allows natural light to filter in. Incredibly, all the bamboo is held together using only ropes and pins.
“The transparency of the space with the surrounding grid system, along with the arch pathway throughout the whole structure, link the inside and the outside,” shares the firm. “The light comes in beautifully and, along with the natural color of bamboo, creates a warm and intimate atmosphere, even though the structure is very open in terms of airflow.”
Within this precise grid, a lotus and drum have been sculpted using arches and domes. This contrast of soft and hard edges gives an element of surprise to people entering the space. And at night, when the structure is lit from within, a soft glow enhances the space and allows for a different perspective on the construction.
All told, the Grand World Phu Quoc Welcome Center is a stunning showcase for the architectural possibilities of bamboo. And it has allowed Vo Trong Nghia Architects to once again show that this low-cost, sustainable material can work well in the creation of cutting-edge, contemporary architecture.
Vo Trong Nghia Architects used 42,000 bamboo shoots to create a welcome center at a resort in Vietnam.
Grand World Phu Quoc asked the firm to create something that embodied Vietnamese culture.
So two important cultural symbols—the lotus and the bronze drum—were sculpted inside the structure.
The bamboo is held together using only ropes and pins—a feat of engineering.
For the firm—which is known for using the sustainable material in its architecture—the project is a culmination of its experience with bamboo.
