First American-style development on offer in Hanoi: GoldSeason

James Mary O’Connor, one of MRY’s principals, talked to VIR’s Ha Duy about the company’s ambition to create a new Manhattan in Hanoi with GoldSeason and its hope that GoldSeason will be the first of many fantastic projects of MRY in this country.”

Why did MRY choose GoldSeason to be your first project in Vietnam? What attracted MRY?

We are attracted and inspired by having an investor who has very high ambitions and aspirations for this project. We are also attracted by the unique place and context of Hanoi with its many fascinating layers of history, culture and natural environment of lakes, rivers and parks in Hanoi.

How would you describe the architecture of GoldSeason?

It is called “New Manhattan in Hanoi” - a complex of privacy, tranquility and safety opposition in contrast with a bustling noisy city. As an elegant metropolis with healthy urban development, vibrant new life in Old Quarter and modern towers around a public garden, GoldSeason will be masterpiece of art, architecture and landscape. This creates a new standard of residential living and weaves a city and nature with contemporary modern style in Hanoi.

We designed the complex in the concept of the autumn leaf. This concept brings out all the aspects that we want to express in the project: nature, colors, connections. Autumn is the best, most pleasant season in Hanoi. The beautiful colour of autumn leaves is reflected in the project name, “GoldSeason”. The theme of the spreading “autumn leaf” also fits our landscape concept of a central park that reaches out to the four towers. From the central public park fronting Nguyen Tuan Street, pedestrian paths symbolise the leaf’s blade and veins, branching out to connect to the four towers. A plaza is configured as the central “heart” of the urban park, where active gathering, interaction and diverse activities can take place like in an American park (called Manhattan Park) right in the project.

Moreover, we brought to GoldSeason American style interior design which is simple but modern with high ceilings. All of the rooms have natural light without columns and dead corners. Apartments have beautiful views from large windows in all rooms and glass balconies. This makes homeowners relaxed.

How is GoldSeason different from other high-end residential projects in Hanoi?

The typical architecture for high-rise residential towers in Hanoi does not have a strong, distinctive identity. The design for these buildings tends to be driven by the interior unit floor plans and is unrelated to its surroundings.  With GoldSeason, we have created an architectural design that is more distinctive, nuanced and less repetitive. The design of GoldSeason is not only about making great interior spaces and unit plans, but also about connecting all of the outside spaces.

How about landscape design?

The landscape and open space design is critical in all our projects, and we consider landscape and architecture to be complementary to each other. For GoldSeason, it is crucial to bring the quality of Hanoi landscape and nature into the buildings. The project is not only about the buildings, but also about connecting to the natural environment. People’s lives are better when they have this connection to nature. Breakthrough in landscape design at GoldSeason is open space and secret gardens, which creates a special attraction.