The Dwight School Hanoi is described by the project team as a premium private school in the Vietnam capital designed with a modern urban educational vision that provides space for adaptive areas, flexible learning and social distancing.

The project features a full glazing facade combined with skylights and a cladding system to “emphasize a modern look and maximize natural lighting from all directions,” the team says. But the building rooftop also includes patterns from Vietnam’s Ngoc Lu drum, a noted Bronze Age artifact. The material used is a pebble wash mixed with polymer, “making it distinctive in terms of project size and pattern,” says the team, and setting new standards in education design and building.

The different components of the school’s rooftop are fully connected by a massive skybridge, with steel replacing original reinforced concrete to reduce construction time. Prestressed girder beams—among Vietnam’s longest at 34 m, according to the submission—span the roof and include sensors to monitor concrete strength to ensure quality control and optimal cable tension timing.

Despite consultants located in four continents and a nine-month work suspension caused by “issues with local authorities,” the team says it met schedule and budget targets, with no lost-time accidents or injuries in 1.5 million work hours.