The US State Department has broken ground on a US embassy building in Vietnam.
The ceremony was held in Hanoi, and attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as ambassador Marc Knapper, and Bui Thanh Son, Vietnam’s foreign minister.
The $1.2bn project was designed by Page, an architect based in Washington, DC, and is being built by Alabama contractor BL Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama.
Harbert has previously worked on embassies and consulates in Guatemala, Mexico, Niger and Turkey.
The 3.2ha New Embassy Campus (NEC) will relocate American diplomats from central Hanoi to a boulevard adjacent to Cau Giay Park in the northwest of the city.
The masterplanning and engineering design was carried out by EYP, a subsidiary of Page. The elements to be organised included the main office building, housing for the embassy’s marine security guards, as well as parking and a plant room.
EYP says these buildings are organised under a “grand civic canopy” along the boulevard, with an elevated gallery and outdoor terraces located alongside the park.
The company comments that the NEC will offer “an open, engaging architecture representing America’s diplomatic partnership with Vietnam – a glimpse into what’s possible as the two countries continue to strengthen political, economic, and social ties”.
According to the State Department, the NEC “embraces the modern urban landscape and natural beauty of Hanoi and incorporates the latest in sustainable design features”.
These include a series of terraces, inspired by Vietnam’s rice paddies, designed to mitigate the country’s heavy rainfall and uses sustainable materials with high recycled content, low embodied carbon, and low levels of volatile organic compounds.
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