The Phan Chau Trinh Sports Gymnasium is part of the continuous effort by Phan Chau Trinh International School to modernize its infrastructure. This project aims to progressively transform the existing campus, meeting both the growing needs of the school and the demands of the surrounding community.
The gymnasium was designed as a large space with a double wall. This double enclosure system consists of an outer layer of corrugated metal, separated from an inner layer made of cement panels, thus creating an active climatic layer between them. Viewed from nearby streets, this double-wall facade evokes the image of gills, giving the building a dynamic appearance as light, shadow, and movement interact with its surface.
This analogy refers less to form and more to functional performance: sunlight is controlled, precipitation is contained, and air circulates through the interior space. In this way, the entire volume maintains good ventilation under the hot and humid climate characteristic of Ho Chi Minh City. Inside, the arrangement of spaces is intentionally simple, keeping the structure of the inner wall visible without covering it with expensive and unnecessary finishes.
The repetitive corrugation establishes an intentionally common material language. Corrugated metal is a familiar material in the context of local civil construction, often seen in warehouses, factories, and utilitarian buildings. In this project, its use is neither disguised nor elevated to a luxurious standard; on the contrary, it retains its everyday character while being restructured into a more considered architectural apparatus.
The project addresses the school's future infrastructure through gradual modifications, rather than grandiose interventions. In this sense, an accessible and usual building material is repurposed into an environmental device: a double wall that regulates climate, lighting, ventilation, and scale, while simultaneously lending a unique architectural identity to a large practical space.