Victoria South Saigon School wins International Architecture Award 2024

Victoria International School Saigon South is the only school in Vietnam to be honored at this year's awards.

Green school honored

The International Architecture Awards (IAA) is organized by the Chicago Museum of Architecture and Design (USA) in collaboration with the European Center for Architecture, Art and Urbanism.

This is a long-standing and prestigious international architecture award held annually to honor individuals and organizations with creative and unique designs.

This year's IAA Awards had 850 entries from around the world participating in the evaluation. Surpassing many other projects, Victoria School - South Saigon was honored as "Green Curtain School".

This is one of 17 projects in the world and one of 2 projects in Vietnam to be honored in the school category. The school was designed by Architect Vo Trong Nghia with the main goal of creating a green and sustainable learning environment.

MSc. Christopher Bradley - Principal of Victoria School - South Saigon said: "We are extremely proud that the school's design won this award. This is a prestigious award to affirm the school's quality learning space.

Not only ensuring aesthetics, green spaces, classrooms, and optimized playgrounds will contribute to inspiring, helping students and teachers to study and work effectively."

Green building in Victoria School - South Saigon

Happy green school according to UNESCO standards

In the context of rapid urbanization, high urban density, and shrinking green space, creating a green school right in Ho Chi Minh City is necessary.

Following the UNESCO Happy School model, the school always focuses on building green spaces for students, giving them a happy learning experience.

With a total area of ​​15,000m2, the school has a green system covering from the outside to the inside including: School grounds, playground, bird of paradise garden, rooftop garden, outdoor cafe and inside classrooms and offices.

Trees cover the buildings like a "green curtain" that helps filter the air, creating a spacious and natural learning and working environment.

Dang Nguyen Minh Nghia - a student of class 10.1 shared: "I was overwhelmed the first time I came to school because of the green trees covering everywhere, it looked very eye-catching.

Whether in the classroom, library, hallways or playgrounds, I always feel cool. That helps me feel comfortable and relaxed during stressful studying."

Along with green space, the school wants to educate students about love of nature and green awareness.

At the same time, the school wants to educate students about lifestyle and "green awareness" in the process of living with nature. According to information from IAA: "Trees are planted around the school to reduce temperature and save energy, rainwater collection system is used for irrigation and water reuse.

In addition, the school also focuses on holistic education, aiming to educate students to love nature and foster a deeper connection with the urban environment, especially in the context of Vietnam facing issues such as depression and anxiety."

The school's design focuses on integrating sports and agricultural spaces with green architecture.

Sports facilities such as golf and table tennis are interspersed so as not to take up too much space. The swimming pool is also reasonably designed to serve the needs of students.

Cool green swimming pool space, arranged between buildings.

By effectively using space and optimizing natural resources, the school hopes to foster a love of nature, raise awareness of the importance of environmental protection for students, and contribute to building a sustainable future for the country.

Victoria School is a bilingual international school system following the UNESCO Happy school model, providing a seamless educational journey, with an academic program that crystallizes excellent values ​​from international and domestic programs, along with a system of educational technology and state-of-the-art facilities for students to confidently become the best version of themselves.

Learn more about the school at: victoriaschool.edu.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truong-victoria-nam-sai-gon-dat-giai-kien-truc-quoc-te-2024-20240916160623649.htm