The National Assembly Building of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Tòa nhà Quốc hội Việt Nam), officially the National Assembly House (Nhà Quốc hội) and also known as the New Ba Đình Hall (Hội trường Ba Đình mới), is a public building located on Ba Đình Square across from the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam. Construction started on October 12, 2009, and finished on October 20, 2014. The building is the meeting place of the National Assembly of Vietnam, and hosts major conferences held by the Communist Party of Vietnam. This building is the largest office complex built in Vietnam after the reunification of the country. The Building covers an area of 63,000 square meters, and is 39 meters in height. The building can accommodate up to 80 meetings and has capacity for more than 2,500 people. The old Ba Đình Hall was demolished in 2008 to make room for the new National Assembly House. Archaeological remains of the old imperial city of Hanoi, Thăng Long, were found on the site, causing construction of the building to be delayed. The proposed project took 15 years (1999–2014) from the initial concept to the inauguration. The project attracted attention and debates in the country's mass media concerning the construction site and conservation of Ba Đình Hall. The project led to the largest archaeological excavations in Vietnam at the site of Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. The German architecture design consultant company, gmp International GmbH, was awarded the Vietnam's National Architecture Award by the Vietnam Architect Society in 2014.
Background Ideas for a new National Assembly building were floated around since the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) established control of Hanoi following the 1954 Geneva Accords. In March 1960, the government sent a hundred experts, officials and workers to Beijing for nine months in order to learn more about design and construction, procure materials, and study the Ten Great Buildings of Beijing which had just opened the previous year, especially the Great Hall of the People. Meanwhile, experts from China collaborated with Vietnamese architects Nguyễn Hữu Tiềm, Hoàng Như Tiếp, Ngô Huy Quỳnh and others to design a new legislative building on the site of the colonial-era Hoàng Hoa Thám horse racetrack. With the expectation that this land (now Quần Ngựa Sports Palace) would be devoted to the new National Assembly building, the joint Sino-Vietnamese team submitted their completed plans to the Ministry of Construction. They then reported to then-President Hồ Chí Minh and other state leaders. Hồ Chí Minh was concerned that the country was too poor for a new legislative building and instead proposed a temporary structure to be used by the National Assembly until reunification, after which a grander, more beautiful legislative building would be built. Upon the return of the experts to China, the Vietnamese leaders announced their agreement with the idea but the domestic and international situation of the country meant that construction was not feasible. The destruction caused by Operation Rolling Thunder meant that the plans for the new assembly building were cancelled. Nguyễn Cao Luyện and a number of other architects were commissioned to build Ba Đình Hall, which was completed in 1963. Because it was only meant as a temporary structure, it was modest in size. After reunification and the Đổi Mới reforms, Prime Minister Võ Văn Kiệt proposed building a new legislative hall on a grander scale to represent Vietnam's new era of development. Around 1998–1999, the government ordered the Ministry of Construction to prepare and build a large and modern construction center. The Ministry proposed the site of 18 Hoàng Diệu Street as it was an expansive, undeveloped piece of land with only Ba Đình Hall having been built there. When the issue was brought to the National Assembly, it was suggested that a new legislative building should be built, because other countries had dedicated structures for their legislatures while the National Assembly of Vietnam had still continued to convene in the "temporary" Ba Dinh Hall This led to the idea of making a new National Assembly House attached to the New Ba Dinh Hall as the National Conference Center.
Development
Initial stages
2002–2007
In October 2002, the government established the Steering Committee for Construction of the National Assembly House and Ba Dinh Hall (new) initiated by then-Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng. The Prime Minister at the time, Phan Văn Khải, approved the project feasibility report. At the end of 2002, the chosen plan was to build the new National Assembly House to the right of Ba Đình Hall, on 18 Hoang Dieu Street with access to Hoàng Văn Thụ Street and Independence Street. Under this plan, Ba Đình Hall would be preserved. In 2003, when surveying the construction site of the National Assembly at 18 Hoang Dieu, the land was cleared to prepare for construction and Vietnam Institute of Archaeology conducted archaeological excavations in accordance with the law on cultural heritage. The 2003 archaeological announcement conference drew the attention of public opinion and scientific researchers around the archaeological site at the very site of the intention to build a new Parliament building. This is the largest excavation of the archaeological history 6 was announced, with an area of 14.000m2. Excavation of this area lasted 1 year with 14 excavations, found millions of extremely valuable antiques and relics. This site is located in the right place for the construction of the National Assembly building as planned.
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