The Bar Wind and Water (Bar w-N-w) in the southern province of Binh Dương, designed by Vo Trong Nghia Co. Ltd., won the second prize at the World Architecture Festival 2009 held last month in Barcelona, Spain.
Bar Wind and Water.
At the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2009, Vietnam boasted for three candidates: Bar w-N-w; Café w-N-w; and Flamingo Club “Bamboo wings,” all designed and built by Vo Trong Nghia Co. Ltd.
Bar w-N-w, located in Thu Dau Mot, Binh Dương Province, was nominated for three categories of prizes: Civic and community, Interiors and Fit Out, and Structural Design-Spans. The project won the second prize for structural design, only after Richmond Olympic Oval Roof in Canada.
Interiors of Bar Wind and Water.
In purpose of helping residents in the flood-stricken areas to make the temporary houses, tents, school classroom, as well as in business purpose, such as cafe, bar, resort, the model of Bar w-N-w is proposed in the initial design.
The bar is a structural bamboo arch system with 10m in height, spanning 15m in length. The main frame is made from 48 units of bamboo elements. Materials using for the roof covering are the sheets that made from the leaves having the high resistance in fire.
Bamboo, popularly grown in Vietnam, is treated by muddy soaking and smoking out in order to lengthen its service life.
In order to overcome such large span for a construction made by bamboo, most important mission is to do the test of full-scale model together with structural calculation. The location that selected to do the full-scale test is an area of 5000m2 in Cafe Wind and Water, which has been awarded the gold medal in the Arch Asia Contest and the second prize in the International Bamboo Competition. Together with the Wind and water Cafe, the full-scale model is built to be a w-N-w bar.
The construction site is located in the man-made lake, using the natural wind energy together with the cool water from the lake to make the natural air-ventilation. On the top of roof, there is a hole with diameter of 1.5m having the function to intake the hot air inside the bar to go outside.The bar was built by local workers in 3 months (from October 2007 to January 2008). By using materials, manpower and construction method as above mentioned, Bar w-N-w becomes friendly not only to the environment but also to the local residents.
