A lotus-shaped skylight, a part of Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line project, is now 50 percent complete and expected to be finished by the end of the year.

The skylight, about 27 meters in diameter, is designed to be an architectural feature of Ben Thanh Terminal, located in downtown Ho Chi Minh City.

With a lotus-shaped design, the roof of the skylight is made of two main materials, namely glass and aluminum honeycomb panels.

The wall glass is covered with a special type of insulation film.

Most of the materials were imported from Japan and meet all of the requirements of the design, with outstanding insulation and durability.

A team of Japanese experts and engineers is in charge of supervising to make sure that the materials are assembled correctly as well as ensure the best quality for the project.

The skylight will provide natural light and create an open space, said Ngo Quoc Kiet, architectural engineer at Ben Thanh Terminal, said, adding that passengers will also have a view of the iconic Ben Thanh Market from inside the terminal.

The metro line No. 1 is 19.7 kilometers long, including 2.6 kilometers of underground railways and 17.1 kilometers of elevated tracks.

It runs from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City, with three underground stations and 11 stops above the ground.

The project, which started in August 2012, has a total investment of VND43.7 trillion (US$1.87 billion), most of which has come from Japan’s official development assistance (ODA).

About 92.95 percent of the metro project has been completed.

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