A lotus-themed design has beaten two other finalists to be selected for the construction of a huge airport in southern Vietnam.

Located just 50 kilometers from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, the proposed airport will be built in Long Thanh, a district in Dong Nai Province, in order to ease pressure on the currently overloaded airdrome in the southern hub.

An advisory board under the Ministry of Transport chose Design LT-03 as the winning option for Long Thanh International Airport on April 7. 

The selected design, in the shape of a stylized lotus, had been submitted by South Korea’s Heerim Architects & Planners Co. Ltd. 

The concept of the lotus flower, widely regarded as the national flower of Vietnam, is also pervasive throughout the airport’s ceilings, terminals, parking lots, and interior.

The design places emphasis on the use of dynamic but selective colors to bring a sense of elegance to the megaairport.

Meanwhile, Design LT-04, a submission from Japan Airport Consultants Inc - ADP Ingeniere - Shigeru Ban Architects, a Japan-France joint-venture, and Design LT-07, from CPG Consultants Pte. Ltd -PAE Limited - Azusa Sekkei, a Singapore-Vietnam-Japan joint venture, were eliminated by the advisory board.

Between November and February, Vietnamese authorities co-organized an exhibition of nine potential designs in Hanoi, Da Nang, Dong Nai, and Ho Chi Minh City to pool public feedback. Three were shortlisted then.

The plan to build the Long Thanh airport was ratified by Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly in 2015, with an estimated cost of some VND336.63 trillion (US$15.03 billion).

The mammoth project is set to break ground no later than 2019, two years earlier than initially planned.

Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai People’s Committee Tran Van Vinh said during a meeting that once completed, the Long Thanh airport would bring major socioeconomic benefits to the province, the southern economic region, and the country as a whole.

An aviation official pointed out that Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport is expected to welcome 40 million passengers annually by 2018, making the completion of the Long Thanh airport more urgent. 

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