Techcombank Headquarters Ho Chi Minh City by Foster + Partners: Architecture Review

The Techcombank Headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City by Foster + Partners is a 21-storey office tower designed around two ideas: flexibility for different tenants and uses, and an environmental strategy that lets the building shade itself in a tropical climate. Its sawtooth floor edges, stacked atria and meeting “pods” make it a useful case study for anyone designing office buildings in hot countries. This review explains the tower’s planning, facade, interiors and sustainability goals, and closes with practical lessons for commercial and office towers in Pakistan.

Site and Massing

The tower stands on a plot with two street fronts: an entrance on Le Duan Boulevard, one of the city’s main avenues, and another on Nguyen Du Street. The shape of the building was driven by the site boundaries and the required setbacks, a familiar situation for anyone designing on a tight urban plot.

The tower is split into two blocks. The central core, containing lifts, stairs and services, is pushed towards the back of the site, facing a neighbouring hotel. This frees the more valuable street-facing sides for office space with views and daylight. The recessed zone between the two blocks becomes an amenities floor for employees.

Why the rear core works

• Office floors get the best views and daylight on the street sides.
• The solid core shields the offices from the neighbouring building.
• Floor plates stay open and flexible for different layouts and tenants.

Atria and Meeting Pods

A defining feature of the interior is a series of three atria of different heights. The first rises from the base of the building to level 9. The second and third begin at levels 11 and 14 and extend to the top of the tower.

These voids connect floors visually, bring light deeper into the plan and contain meeting spaces described as “pods”. The intention is to create a collaborative, inclusive workplace where people on different floors can see one another and meet informally.

The Sawtooth Facade: Self-Shading by Design

The most important environmental idea is the sawtooth edge of the floor plates. Instead of a flat glass wall, each floor’s edge zigzags. One face of each “tooth” turns towards the sun and is shaded with a screen; the other face turns away from direct sun and uses clear glass for open views of the city.

This approach has several benefits:

• Lower solar gain: less direct sun reaches the glass, reducing cooling loads.
• Better views: the clear-glazed faces give occupants open outlooks without glare.
• Daylight without heat: diffused light enters while harsh direct sun is controlled.
• Character: the pattern gives the facade texture and depth, changing with the light through the day.

The geometry of the sawtooth is set according to the angle of the sun, which is a reminder that good facade design starts with solar analysis rather than with a material catalogue.

Flexibility for Different Users

The design brief had a strong programmatic focus: the building had to accommodate various tenants and uses over time. Open floor plates, a consolidated core and shared amenity spaces make it easier to adapt floors for different departments or tenants without major rebuilding. For investors and owners, flexibility protects the long-term value of an office building.

What the Tower Says About Modern Workplaces

Corporate headquarters have changed. Banks and large companies once favoured closed cellular offices stacked on identical floors. Today, many organisations want spaces that support teamwork, informal meetings and a sense of community, while still providing quiet areas for focused work.

The Techcombank tower reflects this shift in several ways:

• Shared amenity floor: the recessed zone between the two blocks gives staff a place to meet, eat and relax away from their desks.
• Vertical connection: atria reduce the isolation of separate floors and make the organisation feel more unified.
• Varied meeting spaces: pods inside the atria offer an alternative to formal conference rooms.
• Healthy environment: daylight, views and controlled glare improve comfort and wellbeing.

For owners, these features help attract and keep good staff, which is increasingly important for banks, technology firms and professional services companies.

Conventional Glass Tower vs Self-Shading Tower

Sustainability Goals

The project aims for LEED Platinum, the highest level of the LEED green building rating system run by the US Green Building Council. LEED assesses areas such as energy, water, materials, indoor environmental quality and site. The self-shading facade, daylight from the atria and efficient building services all contribute to this goal.

Indoor comfort and ventilation in such buildings typically follow international standards such as those published by ASHRAE.

Green certification is not only about prestige. Buildings designed to reduce energy and water use cost less to operate every month, and those savings continue for the life of the building. In markets where electricity prices are high and supply can be unreliable, as in Pakistan, lower demand also means smaller generators, smaller solar and battery systems and less strain on backup power. Pakistan has its own green building initiatives, and international systems such as LEED are already used on some corporate and industrial projects in the country. Even where an owner does not seek a formal rating, following the same principles of shading, efficient services and good daylight delivers most of the practical benefits.

Lessons for Pakistan

Pakistani cities are building more office towers and mixed-use high-rises, especially in Lahore’s Gulberg and CBD areas, Karachi’s commercial districts and Islamabad’s Blue Area. Many of these still rely on flat glass facades that overheat in summer and need very large air-conditioning systems. Techcombank’s headquarters offers a better model.

• Shade first, cool second. Pakistan’s summers are hotter and longer than Vietnam’s in many cities. Fins, sawtooth edges, screens and recessed windows can cut cooling loads significantly.
• Put the core where it helps. On narrow plots, placing the core on the hottest or least attractive side shields office space and frees the best frontage.
• Use atria carefully. Atria bring light and connection, but in Pakistan they must be designed with smoke control and fire separation in line with life-safety requirements. See our guide to firefighting and emergency evacuation for commercial high-rises.
• Design for flexibility. Regular grids and open floor plates make towers easier to lease to changing tenants.
• Follow local rules. Height, setbacks and floor area depend on local by-laws; read our article on CBD Punjab and Gulberg high-rise regulations. Structural design must meet the Building Code of Pakistan, including seismic provisions.

ACCO designs and builds commercial and office buildings in Pakistan. Explore our high-rise building design and construction services in Lahore and our overview of high-rise buildings in Pakistan.

Designing an Office Tower in Pakistan: Key Steps

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Techcombank Headquarters shows how an office tower can respond to a hot climate through form rather than relying only on machinery. A rear core, open flexible floors, connected atria and a sawtooth self-shading facade work together to create a comfortable, efficient workplace. These ideas are directly relevant to Pakistan’s growing office market. To discuss a commercial or office project, explore ACCO’s design and construction services.