Castaway Island Resort / VTN Architects

Written by Patrick Lynch

Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTN Architects), has revealed plans for a remote resort located on a private beach on a tiny island in the Ca Ba Archipelago of Vietnam. The exclusive resort will consist of a series of structures constructed of the firm’s trademark material, bamboo, and will accommodate up to 160 guests. The resort will be located 2 hours from the nearest airport and accessible only by boat, ensuring visitors will be treated to an exclusive experience within the island’s tropical environment.

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Perched along 32,000-square-foot (3,000-square-meter) private beach, the resort consists of five huts, a restaurant and a pavilion, all designed to fully immerse guests within nature. The structures are constructed using traditional Vietnamese bamboo lashing techniques, which involves first treating the material by soaking the thin bamboo rods (Tam Vong) in mud and then smoking them. These rods are then assembled using bamboo dowel nails, and lashed together using rope. A thatch roof covers the huts, protecting visitors from the local climate using with low-environmental-impact techniques.

At one end of the beach, the restaurant pavilion features a hyperbolic-paraboloid shell structure that creates a semi-outdoor space for social gathering and interaction. Each of the building’s 13 bamboo shell units are composed of 80 straight bamboo rods, creating a “wavy, rhythmical” landscape on the roof and ceiling.

The five accommodation huts are being built using bamboo frame modules, which offer a comfortable sleeping space for each guest. These frame are first assembled on the ground and then erected to improve workmanship quality and reduce construction time. Recycled timber shutters common to traditional Vietnamese colonial villas form the huts’ facades.