SOM's APEC venues in Phu Quoc: a wave roof and a dragon-scale theatre

On the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc, the venues for the APEC 2027 summit are taking shape. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) designed both the convention and exhibition centre and the circular theatre beside it for developer Sun Group, within a 57-hectare masterplan. At the end of October, SOM shared an interview in which design principal Nicolas Medrano explains the project.

Aerial render of the Phu Quoc APEC masterplan with the round theatre and the convention centre along the waterfront — *The APEC venues on the Phu Quoc waterfront: the round theatre and, to its right, the convention centre. © SOM | INPLACE*

A legend in two buildings

The pair draws on the Vietnamese origin myth of Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ. The convention centre, with its wave-like roof, stands for Âu Cơ, the fairy mother. The round theatre stands for Lạc Long Quân, the dragon father: its 50 pillars recall the 50 sons who followed him to the sea, and a grove of bamboo.

An 81-metre roof made of repeated trusses

The convention centre rises three storeys. Its roof spans 81 metres without columns over a main hall of 11,050 m². SOM, also the structural engineer, built it from a series of nearly identical curved steel trusses: repeating one optimised geometry was a way to speed up fabrication on a tight programme. Clerestory windows set into each truss bring daylight into the middle of the deep plan, and the ripples of the roof are prepared to take solar panels in the future.

Render of the convention centre from the water, a row of fluted shell-like vaults reflected at dusk — *The convention centre from the water: a row of repeated curved trusses. © SOM | INPLACE*

Street-level render of the convention centre with fluted metal vaults over a glazed entrance — *At street level, the ribbed vaults open onto a glazed, three-storey façade. © SOM | INPLACE*

Dragon scales on the theatre

The theatre, about 148 metres across and with roughly 4,000 seats, is topped by a roof of painted aluminium panels working as a rainscreen. Their pattern recalls dragon scales, and the roof collects stormwater at its centre. Terracotta and glass-fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC) complete the palette, and a vaulted lobby sits within a bermed landscape.

Render of the theatre entrance with tapered columns, a perforated screen and a glazed drum beneath the roof — *Tapered columns carry the roof edge; the vaulted lobby sits within the bermed landscape. © SOM | INPLACE*

Dusk render of the theatre with its scale-patterned aluminium roof glowing above the gardens — *The painted aluminium rainscreen roof, patterned like dragon scales. © SOM | INPLACE*

SOM used parametric modelling, structural analysis and environmental simulation, including wind and microclimate studies, to fit the forms to a hot, humid coastal site. Medrano describes buildings shaped to fit Phu Quoc's terrain, coastline and geography.

Built against the clock

Design and engineering ran on an accelerated two-and-a-half-year schedule, from first sketches to the summit in November 2027. Construction began in mid-2025. By August 2026, local press reported that most of the convention centre's concrete was complete and more than 90% of its steel installed. Each phase 1 building targets LEED Platinum.

Why it matters for the envelope

Here the roof is the façade. A long-span steel roof with integrated clerestories, a metal rainscreen that drains to its centre and a future photovoltaic layer all have to perform in salt air and tropical storms. We will follow how the cladding is detailed and installed as the venues approach completion.

Credits

Architecture and structural engineering: SOM (Design Principal Nicolas Medrano)
Client: Sun Group
Theatre and performance consultant: Apeiro Design
Phase 1 hotel: Aedas
Other collaborators listed by SOM include Windtech, Meinhardt, Rankine & Hill, Brandston Partnership and EDSA
Images: © SOM | INPLACE

Sources: SOM; VietnamPlus; Vietnam Law Magazine; Sun Group.

News