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Project on the “ridge of Vietnam” to be kicked off soon
After a lot of delays, the project on Lotus Hotel, which will be a super 6-star hotel in Hanoi worth one billion dollars, has been assigned to Kinh Bac Urban Development Corporation KBC, and the project will be kicked off soon. The hotel is expected to have the height of 400 meters and become the tallest building in Vietnam.
The hard lot
Being a superb project with a very large scale, the project was initially expected to be completed in 2010, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi. However, the Lotus Hotel project, located in Me Tri commune in Tu Liem district in Hanoi, has many times “failed to keep appointments”.
While other projects “of the same generation” with Lotus Hotel, like Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower and Grand Plaza, have nearly been completed and they are going to be put into operation in some days, Lotus Hotel project’s construction has not been started yet.
In early 2009, Japanese Riviera Group, which won the right to develop the project after great efforts of lobbying, sent a document to the Hanoi’s authorities, informing the intention to give up the project due to financial problems. Right after the information was released a lot of domestic investors had applied for becoming the developers of the project.
Finally, KBC won the race, obtaining the right to run the project with the estimated investment capital of 500 million dollars. Hanoians hope that the super hotel will be a gigantic architecture work to be proud of in the future.
According to the Hanoi Planning and Architecture Council, the world’s leading architecture consultant Foster & Partners has been chosen by KBC for the project.
Foster & Partners asked 12 designers from 12 different countries to draw up 24 architecture solutions, and has selected two of the solutions. Of these, the architecture solution with the rice grain-shape (solution B) has been favored by the investor, because the image of rice grain has been associated with Vietnamese wet rice civilization. Also, rice grain also symbolizes prosperity.
The design work has also satisfied the investor especially, because it pays special attention to the environment with hanging gardens to be located on all floors of the building, with solutions to save energy, prevent and fight fires. The building will have the main view to the National Convention Center and Pham Hung Road.
The ridge of Vietnam
The height of the building is one of the most attractive factors of the building. If solution B is chosen as expected, the building with have a record height of 400 meters, which is even higher than Keangnam’s building, located on the other side of Pham Hung Road.
There are two contradictory opinions about the height of the project. The first group of people believes that it is not necessary to set a limit on the height of the building, because any limitation would spoil the significance of the rice-grain. Lotus hotel is hoped to be a super project which creates a new architecture symbol in the new development stage. The people also believe that the two high rise buildings in the region will in no way affect the “nucleus work” – the national convention center.
Meanwhile, other people, though highly appreciating the design and the functions of the work, still raise some worries. The large scale of the work may put a pressure on the technical infrastructure and social infrastructure.
Most recently, the Ministry of Construction has officially declared its opinion that the construction of high rise and modern buildings on the North Thang Long – Noi Bai, Pham Van Dong and Pham Hung roads is suitable to the overall plan on the capital city development by 2030.
If Lotus Hotel really has the height of 400 meters, it will become the tallest building in Vietnam. The tallest building now is Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower with 70 stories and the height of 336 meters.
The two other high rise buildings would be VietinBank Tower, 362 meters, 68 stories (the construction was kicked off in October 2010) and PVN Tower, 79 stories which has not been started yet.
vietnamnet, Doanh Nhan
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