Landmark 81

Reaching for the skies in Ho Chi Minh City

On the banks of the River Saigon we delivered Landmark 81, Vietnam’s tallest building.

Scroll down
Close

Landmark 81 Project summary

Client

VinGroup

Key partners

Atkins, Arup, Aurecon, VNCC

Services provided

Consult, Project and programme management, Cost consultancy

Sectors

Commercial, Hotels, Retail, Commercial

Locations

Asia Pacific, Vietnam

Project timeline

Start date
August 2015
Status
Complete
Close

Project story

The record setting 'Landmark 81' stands at 150m taller than The Shard in London, dominating the city landscape in Vietnam. It is the centrepiece of Vinhomes Central Park, towering over the other 17 skyscrapers within the multi-functional ecological development.

Landmark 81's design reflects our client’s vision of a luxury development set over 81 storeys. The mixed-use tower includes high-end apartments, a hotel, executive floors and 360 degree observatory decks.

To construct the tower’s pile cap on which the foundations sit, our construction management experts planned, set up and managed the delivery of the largest continuous concrete pour ever seen in Vietnam. This involved excavating 25,000 cubic metres of soil, installing 6,500 tonnes of reinforced steel, and using 17,000 cubic metres of concrete to create the 8.5 metre thick pile cap for the tower’s foundations. This engineering feat required detailed logistical planning, including the construction of temporary roads and walkways, staircases and specially designed cooling systems.

Project stats

462m high, Vietnam's tallest tower
700 people were required to pour the concrete foundation pile cap
1,700 truckloads of concrete delivered for the pile cap

Points of note

Record breaker

Aside from being Vietnam’s tallest building, Landmark 81 also hosts the country’s highest observatory deck and apartments, as well as south-east Asia’s highest restaurant and sky lounge bar.

Reducing programme time

We proposed a way to separate the excavation needed to construct the tower’s pile cap from that of the podium basement. Working with our partners, this enabled us to cast the concrete pile cap earlier and meant the overall programme could be cut by three months.

Vietnam's largest ever concrete pour

To prepare for the concrete pour we had to remove 25,000 cubic metres of soil, construct two temporary vehicle ramps, and install bespoke shoring systems with access walkways and adaptable hanging scaffolding staircases. This was followed by the complex installation of 6,500 tonnes of 40mm diameter reinforcing steel bars. After two months, hundreds of lifting operations, the installation of a unique chilled water cooling system to control the heat of hydration of the concrete, and a 3,000 sq m retractable roofing system, we poured the 8.4m deep pile foundation.

“Credit to the Mace team who has put in a magnificent effort in carrying out the biggest pour ever seen in Vietnam. We were pleased that our preparations paid off and the entire operation went to plan.”

“Landmark 81 was a fascinating but complex project driven by a very programme focused client. Our diverse Mace team of Vietnamese and expatriate employees is combining local knowledge with international experience to achieve the best result for our client.”