HANOI, Vietnam—Global architecture and design firmCallison says its most recently completed design,the 65-story, mixed-use tower, LotteCenter Hanoi, opened recently. The tower's dynamicexterior form celebrates the cultural heritage of Vietnam byfollowing the lines of the Vietnamese long-dress,the Ao Dai.

Programmatically, Lotte Center Hanoi is actually twoindependent towers connected by a series of sky gardenatria. Every level throughout the tower has access to expansivecommunal spaces which serve as high-rise community gardens.
Lotte Center Hanoi is located in the capital city's embassydistrict and serves as a cultural landmark for visitorsand residents alike. The 2 million square footstructure includes serviced residences, office space, a shoppingmall and a 5-star hotel with interiors designed byWilson Associates.

"Lotte Center is an elegant, iconic tower in the new Hanoiskyline and the first sustainably designed high-rise in Vietnam,"said Bill Lacey, Callison chief design officer inLos Angeles.
To determine the best sustainable design strategies for LotteCenter Hanoi, Callison employed its proprietary sustainable designtool, Matrix by Callison. The base of the tower was built usinghigh performance, low temperature and low CO2 emitting concretetechnology. The geometric insertion of sky garden atria leads to a70% reduction in electrical lighting use, as compared to a towerwithout atria. The multistory, full building depth sky gardensprovide access to daylight and panoramic city views.
"Sky gardens, within speculatively developed, mixed-use towers,offer unique community spaces and much needed relief inhigh-density, urban settings," said Matthias Olt,Callison design director in Seattle and the firm's drector ofsustainable design. "By incorporating framed garden views in thearchitecture, they are also a nod to the Vietnamese designvernacular, such as the historic garden houses of Hue." Oltauthored a white paper on Lotte Center Hanoi that was shared inSeptember at the Council on Tall Buildings andUrban Habitat's Future Cities Conference inShanghai.
Founded in 1975, Callison is a global architecture firmspecializing in the retail, mixed-use, corporate, hospitality,healthcare, multifamily residential, mission critical and high-risemarkets worldwide.