Bitexco Financial Tower

비텍스코 파이낸셜 타워

A 262.5 m office tower by Carlos Zapata, completed in 2010 in District 1 and shaped after a closed lotus bud, Vietnam's national flower. Its tapering glass form ends in a slanted point, and a helipad cantilevers 22 m out from the 52nd floor like an opening petal.

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At a glance

Country: Vietnam
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Built: 2010
Height: 262.5 m
Type: Skyscraper

Quick answers

Where is Bitexco Financial Tower?

Bitexco Financial Tower is in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

When was Bitexco Financial Tower built?

Bitexco Financial Tower was built in 2010.

How tall is Bitexco Financial Tower?

Bitexco Financial Tower is about 262.5 m tall.

The Bitexco Financial Tower is a skyscraper in the financial district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It has 68 floors above ground and three basements, and is 262.5 metres (861 feet) tall. When it was inaugurated on 31 October 2010 it became the tallest building in Vietnam, a record it held until January 2011.

Architect Carlos Zapata took his idea from the lotus, Vietnam's national flower, so the glass tower tapers like a closed bud. Its most unusual feature is a helipad that sticks out from the side of the 52nd floor like a petal. The owner is the Bitexco Group, a Vietnamese company.

Building the tower

The groundbreaking ceremony took place in September 2005, and construction started in earnest in June 2007. The tower topped out in mid-2010. The design team included the firm AREP as architect of record, and the South Korean company Hyundai Engineering & Construction handled construction. In 2011 it won an international award for excellence in structural engineering. Its lotus-bud outline appears on the Ho Chi Minh City skyline from far away.

Fame and fireworks

CNN named the tower one of the 25 great skyscraper icons in 2013, and a website in 2015 ranked it second coolest skyscraper in the world. For the 2015 New Year's Eve celebration and the 40th anniversary of reunification, fireworks were launched from the helipad on the 52nd floor and from the top of the tower. The tower also holds the Ho Chi Minh City office of its owner.

Fun facts

Shaped like a lotus bud, it has a helipad sticking out from its side.
The shape of the tower copies a lotus bud, Vietnam's national flower.
A helipad juts out from the 52nd floor like an opening petal.
It was Vietnam's tallest building for only a few months, until Hanoi's Keangnam tower passed it in January 2011.