International School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by Bogle Architects

Article source: Bogle Architects 

The International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) is a new secondary school designed by Bogle Architects, providing teaching facilities for over 900 students, with an internationally renowned education programme.

The 1.15 hectare site, located adjacent to the River Saigon, stands amongst a varied townscape of traditional residential units and new 25-storey residential blocks.

Image Courtesy © Bogle Architects

• Architects: Bogle Architects 
• Project: International School 
• Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Client: Cognita Asia
• Local Architects: Sagen
• Cost Consultant: WT Partnership
• Engineering: Indochine Engineering
• Project Manager: Mace Vietnam
• Main Contractor: Toan Viet JSC

Image Courtesy © Bogle Architects

The school building will provide over 25,000 square metres (sqm) of accommodation. The design is notable for its clarity – all the main facilities are arranged along an internal central spine or “high street”. Each zone is located in order to optimise environmental conditions. The main teaching zone is situated to the east of the spine, with classrooms arranged in groups around pocket light wells, allowing daylight to enter from the north and south facades in direct response to the sun’s high trajectory throughout the year.

Pocket gardens sit at the base of the light wells on the lower levels, and bring greenery into the building to enhance the students’ wellbeing.

Large classrooms for specialist subjects, such as science, art and technology, are located at the spine’s northern and southern extremities. In between these satellite classrooms, larger spaces contain the dining room, gymnasium, swimming pool, theatre, library and innovation centre.

To maximise the potential of the site, the roof is crowned with a football pitch and surrounded by a sculptural steel fence.

Image Courtesy © Bogle Architects

The western façade of the building faces the river, and is shaded by a 100 metre long louvred screen. The louvres are arranged in sections that straddle each floor. The screen’s wave-like pattern breaks the scale of the façade, offers visual intrigue, and acts as a metaphorical reference to the meandering River Saigon.

The entire building is elevated to provide natural ventilation to the ground floor where the students can dine outside and make use of an open-air swimming pool.

Drop-off and collection zones are also located at ground level along with bus stops and car parking spaces.

The design’s open central plaza emphasises the school’s core values of collaboration and connectivity.

“Energised, Engaged and Empowered” is the school’s mission statement, and a key part of this is learning beyond the classroom. The central spine creates a street where spontaneous meetings and learning activities can take place, bringing the school’s ambitions to life.

Bogle Architects is an award-winning architecture and design studio founded in 2012 by Ian Bogle. The team consists of a highly creative group of individuals sharing a common desire to design and build progressive, imaginative and innovative  architecture.

Operating out of studios in London and Prague, and with a further office in Hong Kong, the practice is engaged in a wide range of prestigious international projects.

Image Courtesy © Bogle Architects

Striving for simple design solutions to resolve the complexity of any project, the practice’s philosophy is based on clarity of thought, wide engagement and a collaborative design process in order to realise a common goal.

The practice strategy is to be diverse in both location and sector, which in return offers an insight into many different design solutions, enhancing the continually improving offer to clients.

The practice recently completed the ELI Beamlines laser facility in Prague, which will house the most powerful laser in the world. It is also currently delivering a technically advanced exhibition centre on an innovation park in Beijing. Engineered by Arup, the scheme has achieved a BREEAM “outstanding” rating. The dramatic, 4,071 sqm building forms the gateway to the Beijing Green Building Demonstration Park, overseen by the Building Research Establishment. The project has won a BREEAM gold medal, scoring full marks in energy, water and waste categories.

Other ongoing projects include major residential developments in the UK, Moscow, Prague, Bratislava, and the redevelopment of a commercial scheme in the City of London and other significant education projects in the Far East.

Image Courtesy © Bogle Architects

Tags: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Category: School

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