Tilke Engineers and Formula 1 ’s Motorsports Division have completed the construction of the Hanoi Circuit track, which will host the first ever F1 race in Vietnam and the third round of the 2020 championship on the weekend of 3-5 April. Formula 1’s newest circuit is 5.6km (3.5mi)-long and will see drivers negotiate 23 turns on their way around it, reaching a top speed of 335km/h (208mph). It is said

Legacy Entertainment has designed a 27,500sq m (296,000sq ft) aquarium called The Sea Shell for Phu Quoc island, Vietnam. The building will open early in 2020. Habitats will provide animals with ample space to ensure their wellbeing, while the life support systems will be provided by Advanced Aquarium Technologies. The interior experience, created by designer James Hampton, will take guests on a journey through five galleries, each relating to different

Health and wellness-focused hospitality brand Fusion has teamed up with Alba Vietnam to operate two of the company’s hotels. The resorts – Alba Wellness Hue and Thanh Tan Hot Springs Hotel – are both situated in the foothills of the Truong Son Mountains on the site of a mineral-rich natural spring which has been called a "Holy Grail". Designed by architects Romain Duval, Anh Vu, and Minh Pham, Alba Hue

Architect Bill Bensley is working on a national cultural heritage site in Yên Tu Mountain – considered to be the cradle of Trúc Lâm Zen Buddhism in Vietnam – as part of the Vietnamese government’s strategic development plan for the area. Designed with attention to historical detail – Bensley has created the entire Yên Tu Village in 13th-century style and using 13th-century techniques where possible – the village will include

German architect Ole Scheeren is bringing leisure and landscape design to the skies of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with an ambitious new development formed of three high-rise towers. Described as “a symbiotic vision of nature and living within the space of the city”, the Empire City scheme features apartments, offices and a hotel, in addition to large swathes of public space, from the ground to rooftop. The main structure,

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,

US-based Viceroy Hotel Group will operate a flagship luxury hotel at the Cocobay entertainment and hospitality hub, currently under development in Da Nang, Vietnam. Located on the banks of the Coco River, the 700-room Viceroy Da Nang Vietnam will be the group’s first property in Asia and is set to open in 2020. The hotel will have a significant health and wellbeing offer, with a full-service spa, a “wellness oasis”

For his latest grandiose Southeast Asian resort project, designer Bill Bensley has taken his inspiration from an unlikely combination of themes: the work of pioneering French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, the importance of higher education, Lewis Carroll's novel Alice in Wonderland – and mushrooms. Bensley’s typically whimsical design touches feature throughout the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay resort in the south of Vietnam – a project the designer has described

The architectural studio of Vo Trong Nghia are creating a floating bamboo spa on the Vietnamese island Phu Quoc. Named the Signature Spa, the facility will be attached to a five star hotel on the island, which is famous in the region for its dense expanses of nature and areas of jungle. The spa will consist of a building containing treatment rooms, alongside a series of arched bamboo podiums that

Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia has created another of his trademark sculptural bamboo buildings, this time for a rural restaurant in north Vietnam. Located 30km from the capital Hanoi, the curving Roc Von restaurant is formed of 12 huge bamboo columns which spread upwards, creating a canopy that covers a 6,560sq m semi-outdoor dining area. Roc Von, which is owned by development company La Vong Group, is designed as a

A vast collection of historical artefacts telling the story of northern Vietnam through the ages has been put on public display in a new museum in the country’s famous Ha Long Bay. The VND900m (US$40m, €36.6m, £28.2m) Quang Ninh Museum was completed in late 2013 to mark the 50th founding anniversary of Quang Ninh province, and the exhibits have been installed over the last two years, with work now finally

Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay – famous for its emerald waters and thousands of jungle-covered limestone karsts – is now home to a five-star private island resort, which guests can only reach by speedboat. Architects SRSS Singapore have designed the Vinpearl Ha Long Bay resort on the island of Dao Reu, which opened in late October. The neoclassical building contains 384 guest rooms and suites with private balconies overlooking the open

Pioneering architect Vo Trong Nghia, famous for his bamboo-based designs, has created a bar, restaurant and multi-purpose event space to enhance a wellness resort in the Vietnamese coastal city Da Nang. Nghia provided the original masterplan for the Naman Retreat – a 3.4ha tropical complex containing 80 guest bungalows, 26 villas, a hotel and five-star spa facilities – and was also tasked with designing the additional facilities by the Thanh

A US$400m (£262m, €359m) Vietnamese theme park and leisure complex has been conceptualised and masterplanned by leisure consulting company International Theme Park Services (ITPS). Construction is already under way in the popular tourist destination of Halong Bay. ITPS collaborated with Wyatt Design Group and Hetzel Design on different aspects of the 140-hectare (345 acre) project. It's being built by Da Nang-based Sun Group Corporation, one of Vietnam’s leading hotel and

Ground has been broken on what will be Vietnam’s tallest building – the 460m (1,509-ft) Vincom Landmark 81 – featuring 25 separate rooftop gardens and an observation deck as part of the development. A collaboration between Atkins and Arup, the 81-storey development will come up in Ho Chi Minh City’s Vinhomes Central Park. In addition to the rooftop gardens, many of which will be accessible to the public as visitor

The five-star Naman Retreat in Danang, Vietnam, has opened a 15-room Pure Spa featuring lush, open-air gardens, lotus ponds and a “wall-less” ground floor. Designed by Ho Chi Minh-based MIA Design Studio, the 2,250sq m (24,219sq ft) spa includes a deep soak tub, cushioned daybed for two, male and female whirlpools, sauna and steamrooms, a gym and yoga pavilion. The hotel claims to “blur the lines between resort and spa,”

The Grand Ho Tram Strip Hotel in southern Vietnam is up and running after the first phase of the resort development – including a 1,650sq m (17,760sq ft) spa – was completed at the end of last year. Asian Coast Development (Canada) (ACDL) is the international development company behind this 400-acre integrated resort destination – expected to become the largest tourism complex in Vietnam. ACDL’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Ho Tram Project

Amanresorts is to open a beachside resort and Aman Spa on the shores of Vietnam’s East Sea next month. Amano’i will be situated on a white-sand beach overlooking Vinh Hy Bay on the coast of Nui Chua National Park. The resort includes 31 pavilions and five Aman Villas, which fuse contemporary elegance with traditional Vietnamese architectural styles. Accompanying the resort is a full-service Aman Spa, as well as an elaborate

Engineering and design company Atkins has drawn up plans for a new mixed-use resort project in Vietnam, which will include both residential and hotel properties. Situated in the east of of the country, in Vung Ro, the plans for development include a marina, hotel resort and luxury villas. Three areas have been identified for construction: The Marina for direct ocean views, the Village occupying the valley plain and the Bai

Image: A spa will open at the resort in September InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort - a new 197-bedroom property overlooking the South China Sea - has opened on the Son Tra Peninsula near Da Nang, Vietnam. Bensley Design Studios has been responsible for the new resort's architectural, interior and landscape design, which has taken Hanoi-based owner Sun Group six years to develop. A spa spanning approximately 1,360sq m (14,639sq