Grand World Phu Quoc Welcome Center | VTN Architects

Excerpt: Grand World Phu Quoc Welcome Center by VTN Architects is a bamboo structure featuring different sculptures that reflects Vietnamese culture. The designers sculpt a lotus and a bronze drum, two traditional Vietnamese symbols, inside the grid space. The space is a combination of hard and soft spaces. The grid is very systematic and precise, and combined with soft bamboo arches and domes, it surprises people while they enter the space.

Project Description

Grand World Phu Quoc Welcome Center | VTN Architects — © Hiroyuki Oki

[Text as submitted by architect] The Vinpearl Project is the welcome centre of the Grand World Phu Quoc master plan, which is the centre of the massive Phu Quoc United Center. The client asked VTN Architects to make a bamboo structure that embodies Vietnamese cultures and becomes a symbol of the entire master-planned project, attracting tourists to Grand World Phu Quoc.

The scope of the project is massive, with a building area of 1,460 m2. The designers managed to satisfy the requirements of the client by creating a unique bamboo structure that embodies Vietnamese culture and is a symbol of Grand World Phu Quoc. The lotus and the bronze drum, two traditional Vietnamese symbols, are sculpted into the dense layers of bamboo grid, expressing traditional Vietnamese cultures.

Ecologically, the project is energy efficient, using natural and low-cost sustainable materials (in design and construction) and only ropes and bamboo pins to connect bamboo culms together. No artificial air conditioning is used, and artificial lighting is minimised to only be used at night.

The Vinpearl Project is, first and foremost, a pure bamboo structure with a massive amount of bamboo, counting up to 42,000 bamboo culms. The construction process of bamboo itself is unique. The designers have perfected this into a standard, and the construction process here is a bit more advanced in terms of transportation (they had to move bamboo onto an island) and precision (several systems together require utmost precision). The joint system is challenging since a lot of structural systems are employed and the details of them meeting each other are challenging.

The structural system of Vinpearl Phu Quoc is hybrid. Vinpearl’s structural system combines arches, domes, and grid systems together, which accumulates our knowledge of using bamboo for various structural forms. A hybrid system tests and unifies several different forms, creating a unique aesthetic for the project. A cantilever edge requires considerate use of cross bracing as secondary structural elements compared to main structural elements.

The spatial quality here is influenced by the hybrid structural systems. Here, even though the structure is complex with dense layers of systems interlocking each other, the space is very open and transparent. The space is completely open because of the nature of the systems and the way we join the bamboo elements together. This is due to the nature of our simple joint system, with ropes and low-cost fixing elements. The modular and bracing nature of our frames also increase the transparency of the structure.

The grid system allows natural ventilation through the grids. The transparency of the space with the surrounding grid system, along with the arch pathway throughout the whole structure, links the inside and the outside. The openness and transparency also allow natural lighting to come from the side and through the opening on the roof. The light comes in beautifully, along with the natural colour of bamboo, creating a warm and intimate atmosphere, even though the structure is very open in terms of airflow.

The space is also a combination of hard and soft spaces. The designers sculpt a lotus and a drum inside the grid space. The grid is very systematic and precise, and combined with soft bamboo arches and domes, it surprises people while they enter the space.