Woodhead won the Ho Chi Minh City International School architecture design competition. The school is a non-denominational co-educational and multicultural International school.

The $20 million project which will provide educational facilities for students and a 15 storey residential accommodation tower for teachers and staff.

The Vietnamese school project is located on a 2 hectare site on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, which is part of a new 12.69 hectare residential and leisure complex fronting the Saigon River.

Covering approximately 7,300sqm over a four level building, the school will cater to early childhood, junior, elementary, middle and high school students. The design also includes drop off and collection locations, car parking, special entrances for maintenance and support staff, security housing, canteen, outdoor eating, recreation and sporting areas, including swimming pool, soccer, tennis and basketball courts, and landscaping. The facilities have been designed to meet International standards and accreditation and the building form features an iconic tower structure to reflect the urban context of Vietnam and their Asian neighbours.

With so many differing nationalities it was particularly important to cluster educational areas to provide the opportunity for the greatest flexibility for pedagogical goals and changing curriculum and organisational strategies.

The proposed school buildings modelled around a major courtyard and a compact urban footprint borrow on the physical and organisational structure of the current facilities to meet these demands.

The reality of limited resources has been resolved by consolidating educational support facilities that provide technology-rich resources that can be shared by learners in centrally located educational clusters at each level.

Learning opportunities have been maximised by utilising transitional spaces such as verandahs, balconies and corridors to connect to outdoor learning spaces.