James Gibson first ventured to Vietnam in the early nineties, as the country emerged as a growing economic force after the Vietnam War. There he quickly established, as a partner design studio to his already well established practice in Hong Kong one, of the first international representative architectural offices in the country, dcmstudios vietnam.

It was clear, from an architectural perspective, that Vietnam, and particularly Hanoi had been asleep for many years but was primed, with the help of external investment to embark on the redevelopment and modernization of its urban centers. At that time, there was almost no supply of an internationally accepted standard of modern Hotel or Office developments. This was soon to change with the first wave of international investment, mainly from within the South East Asian region.

dcmstudios completed several major projects in this period, including the US$60million Saigon Centre for Keppel Land of Singapore, an office development in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), which is still recognized as one of the premier office developments in Vietnam today, and Central Building, in Hanoi, a small but excellent first class development of US$25 million which became very popular with international companies and embassies. This was Hongkong Land’s first project in the historic Centre of the Capital city, and like most of dcms projects has an enduring architectural style which remains popular today. Another tourism landmark by dcms was the famous Furama Resort Hotel on China Beach, Danang. This is still arguably the finest resort hotel in the country today.

These early projects were primarily joint venture projects with only licensed leasehold of land. This made funding the projects very complex and latterly, with the general economic recession in the region in the late 90’s major development came to an inevitable end. However the development demand in Vietnam did not end there, and with the local economy continuing to thrive regardless of economic problems in the rest of Asia, the local Vietnamese corporations and developers stepped in where the foreign JVs left off. At this time, dcms were fortunate to be commissioned by the Gemadept Corporation, a major Vietnamese trading company, to build their first commercial development in Ho Chi Minh City, the 30 storey Gemadept Centre, a US$35 million international standard office development, currently under construction and to open later this year.

Today, things are so very different, as the Vietnamese economy grows exponentially in both the commercial and tourism sectors with important and long overdue land reform and legislation now on the horizon. With this significantly improved development environment, the foreign investors are now rushing back into Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. dcmstudios' office in Ho Chi Minh City is now a fully licensed architectural studio with over 25 both foreign and local Vietnamese professional staff. Supported by the head office in Hong Kong, the practice currently is completing the second phase of the prestigious RMIT University campus in Saigon South, which includes a new indoor sports facility and student residences. In the commercial sector, a major new office development, The A&B Centre, currently in construction, is set to complete early next year for VinaCapital, one of Vietnams largest property funds. This together with the national headquarters in Hanoi for the nations largest development and construction companies, the 28 storey Vinaconex Building, also under construction, places dcmstudios as arguably the leading international practice based in Vietnam today.

The VietcomBank Headquarters, an international design bid in Ho Chi Minh City, and the new US$70 million, 6star Giang Vo Lake Hotel and Residences on a beautiful lakeside site in Hanoi are only two of numerous projects on the drawing board of James Gibson, the Design Director of this internationally acclaimed architectural design practice. The future looks bright for Vietnam and dcmstudios.