The Vietnamese government has granted approval for a mammoth resort to be built in Mui Dinh on the country’s southeastern coast.

The Bangkok studio of global architects and masterplanners Chapman Taylor are creating a 1 million sq m masterplan for the Mui Dinh Eco-Resort, which will include six resort hotels – with a combined 7,000 rooms – a theme park, a casino, a spa, a beach club, a boutique hotel, 500 ocean-facing villas and a mountain clubhouse.

The design team plan to keep the density of the development low by placing individual villas and the smaller building types around the main mountain of Cape Dinh in order to integrate the buildings with the natural surroundings. Larger facilities will be constructed in "one single empty area" pushed back further inland so as to avoid damage to the site's marine ecosystems.

The architecture is inspired by the local history of Mui Dinh, particularly that of the Cham tribal culture – "drawing on a rich variety of costumes, colours, fabrics and patterns to fill the design with authenticity and strong bonds to the location."

Sustainability principles will be integrated into the buildings in the way they reuse water, save energy with cross ventilation, and control temperatures naturally, and the resort will be oriented to boost natural shading, using the natural landscape for sun protection.

In a statement, the architects told CLADglobal that they "had to approach the project in a very responsible way, as every small action could have a great impact."

"It's rare to work on such a large natural coastal area, and we have always put nature at the centre of our plans in order to find solutions to answer the client brief with minimum intervention, keeping the natural character," they said.

"We studied the local environment and climate, with some strong prevailing winds shaping a beautiful landscape of sand dunes combined with a water oasis. We thought this was something special that should stay at the centre of the development and keep the essence of the area to show to all visitors. Therefore we kept these dune areas intact and organised the buildings and sectors for development around lateral areas. This minimised the impact of new infrastructure, roads and civil works to the area."

Director Oscar Martinez added: “We’re delighted that the Vietnamese government has given its full support to our masterplan and this ambitious and unique eco-development, which will transform this beautiful coastal area into a new exciting sustainable destination and give an economic boost to this region of eastern Vietnam.”

The project is being bankrolled by the Cap Padaran - Mui Dinh Eco Park Group – a consortium of several Vietnamese and international companies.

Chapman Taylor are also masterplanning two large-scale leisure destinations in Iran, and recently completed one of world’s largest retail schemes in Shanghai, China.

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