Blog : Tropical Space

Nha Be House: A Brick Home Infused with Memories of the Good Old Days

Nha Be House: A Brick Home Infused with Memories of the Good Old Days

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Wuthikorn Sut / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki /

Here’s a beautiful good-sized home with exposed brick walls in subdued orange. It sits peacefully nestled among lush greenery in Nha Be, a suburban district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. By design, it’s the perfect home size for four sisters who recently decided to come home to care for their aging Mom. A nice place for their family reunion, the brick home is filled with real warmth and memories growing up together back in the day.

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE


Connecting Home and Garden

Designed to fit a long piece of property, the rectangular house plan holds five bedrooms plus a roomy communal space that’s the heart of family life. The architect puts the face of the building closer to the road which passes in front of the house leaving just enough room for a small front yard.

Like so, it allows a huge space for the backyard garden devoted to trees and shrubs and an outdoor sitting room.

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE

Inside, the spacious room shared by all family members lies front and center on the house plan. To bring fresh air into the home, all the rooms are connected to the outdoor spaces in front and back of the building.

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE
The front yard holds a small garden that’s an important factor in curb appeal. The interior is comfortable thanks to double-wall construction. The perforated outer shell performs a dual function protecting the house from heat and glare and serving as privacy screens.

Overall, it’s a design that lets the earthy, woody scents of nature permeate the air. Up front, healthy green foliage transforms the communal area into a calm, pleasant place enlivened by plenty of natural light streaming in through generous openings in the walls.

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE
Open-concept design and floating furniture ideas make the communal room feel spacious, light and airy.
NHA BE HOUSE
An opening at the center of the house plan connects the first floor with the second, resulting in good visual and spatial continuity. The absence of risers between the treads of the staircase makes the room feel spacious and well-ventilated.

On one side of the floor plan, a flight of stairs connects to the second floor and continues to the room just below the roof that acts as a buffer against the sun and heat. The absence of vertical risers between the treads of the staircase creates visual and spatial continuity, plus good air flow in the interior.

Overhead, a shaft of sunlight streams through the rooftop skylight making the home feel bright and airy all day.

NHA BE HOUSE
A semi-circle skylight lets sunlight shine through turning the home into a well-lighted place.

Brick the Material of Choice

The two-and-a-half-story brick home, including the room under the roof, is built almost entirely of bricks for the best indoor climate. Needless to say it’s designed for healthy living.

The first floor is a perfect example of communal space with plenty of room for a generous sitting area, dining room and kitchen. It speaks volumes for a culture of caring and sharing that’s the essence of humanity.

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE
A patch of lush greenery in the front yard makes the sitting room feel warm and invitingly comfortable.

NHA BE HOUSE

For practical reason, Mom’s open-concept bedroom is on the first floor. It’s protected from the sun’s harmful rays by perforated brick walls that form the outer shell. The inside is clear of anything that might be a tripping hazard.

NHA BE HOUSE
The perforated brick wall forms the outer shell protecting Mom’s open-concept bedroom.

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE

Meanwhile, the four sisters each have their own bedrooms on the second floor. They are equal-sized rooms connected by a balcony overlooking the communal space on the first floor. At the very top, the space under the roof becomes a devotional room for traditional veneration of the family’s ancestors. It has a quiet sitting area with a view of the surrounding landscape.

NHA BE HOUSE
The bedrooms on the second floor are plain and simple. Windows on the interior walls bring back that peaceful easy feeling.
NHA BE HOUSE
The top floor under the roof contains a devotional room for the veneration of family ancestors

Taken as a whole, the natural environment is pristine thanks to an irrigation canal that runs past the back of the property. Both sides of the waterway are covered in greenery growing luxuriantly in the wild. It’s easy to get why the architect puts in a backyard garden here, a clever hack that blends perfectly into the lush landscape.

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE

The house is built strong using concrete frame and concrete floor slab construction, while the external envelop is made of bricks in assorted orange hues fired the old-fashioned way. Perforated brick facades enable interior spaces to benefit from natural daylight. Gaps between bricks in the house’s exterior walls admit light and fresh outdoor air into the home.

A material of choice, the vintage style bricks can absorb humidity from the nearby water body, which translates into interior thermal comfort all year round. Plus, they effectively filter out dust and pollution in the air.

The siting of the house in relation to others in the community. — Courtesy of Tropical Space

Apart from protecting against heat and glare, brick walls add a touch of timeless elegance to the home. Perforated facades double as privacy screens that prevent people from looking in and keep the home cool without air conditioning.

The light that shines through is more diffuse, while holes in the brick walls act as engine that drives natural ventilation. Plus, brick walls require little to no maintenance, and they look like new after many years later.

First Floor Plan — Courtesy of Tropical Space
Second Floor Plan — Courtesy of Tropical Space
Attic Floor Plan — Courtesy of Tropical Space
In cross section, a side elevation drawing shows the feel and functionality of the house plan. — Courtesy of Tropical Space

Backyard Garden Made for Relaxation

One of the house’s outstanding features is the backyard garden with an outdoor circular bench capable of seating several people. Built of bricks in subdued shades of orange, it’s the family’s favorite meeting place in the morning and evening.

Because it’s round, it creates more space for family members to come together face-to-face, talk together, walk together strengthening the bonds of sisterhood and relationships made in heaven.

NHA BE HOUSE
An outdoor circular bench made of bricks in assorted orange hues adorns the backyard garden designed for face-to-face family gatherings in the morning and evening.

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE

Brick Home NHA BE HOUSE
An aerial view shows the brick house in subdued shades of orange nestled among lush greenery with a tree lined irrigation canal in the backdrop, a healthy ecosystem that helps cool the environment.

Architect: Tropical Space (tropicalspaceil.com)


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Premier Office: A Nature-Inspired Brick Office Design Giving off Good Vibes

Premier Office: A Nature-Inspired Brick Office Design Giving off Good Vibes

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Wuthikorn Sut / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Triệu Chiến /

Though we cannot count on the weather to be calm and delightful at all times, it is quite possible to bring physical ease, well-being and relaxation into the workplace, even without air conditioning. And this brick office named “Premier Office” has proved to be the case, thanks to clever passive cooling techniques and greenery giving off friendly vibes.

brick office

Handsomely nestled within a calm Ho Chi Minh City neighborhood, the building offering rental office spaces boasts the timeless beauty of brickwork in masonry construction.

Not only do bricks blend nicely into the surrounding landscape, but they also provide interior thermal comfort by absorbing moisture to some degree.

When wet, they dry out by evaporation thereby keeping the ambient temperature pleasant during the daytime.

brick office

The seven-story building with a parking garage below ground level offers vacant office spaces for lease that let tenants do their own setup and decorating.

Unlike the usual design offering the same old same old typical of everyday commercial real estate, the rental business spaces at Premier Office are available in a variety of shapes, sizes and configurations, each of which is unique in its own special way.

brick office

brick office

brick office

As the architect intended, the new office block centers around the concept of climate-responsive design whereby forms, functions and nature blend together into one perfectly coordinated business property.

There is a courtyard-like open area at the center that affords an airy and bright atmosphere on every floor. It’s an architectural feature that goes together well with building facades made of ventilation blocks.

By design, the breathable envelope doubles as a passive cooling system that draws fresh outdoor air into this brick office and dissipates excess heat into the sky by rooftop ventilation.

brick office

brick office

Façade and Ventilation Conceptual Diagram Courtesy of Tropical Space
First Floor Plan Courtesy of Tropical Space
Second Floor Plan Courtesy of Tropical Space
Third Floor Plan Courtesy of Tropical Space
Fourth Floor Plan Courtesy of Tropical Space
Fifth Floor Plan Courtesy of Tropical Space
Sixth Floor Plan Courtesy of Tropical Space
Seventh Floor Plan Courtesy of Tropical Space

For the health benefits of natural light, the building envelope is constructed with spaces in between bricks. These little openings in the wall work in tandem with the skylight over the courtyard-like area at the center.

Together they create interior thermal comfort by admitting a defused light to illuminate the room, meantime protecting it from the sun’s harsh glare.

It’s a clever hack to promote well-being, by which only the indirect light filtered by brick walls and surrounding trees is allowed.

brick office

The architect believed that by integrating physical comfort in the design of this brick office, it would double as second home for many tenants working here.

To avoid invading people’s privacy, the business space for each and every tenant is easily identifiable and clearly defined by a brick masonry wall.

Even with that, all the rental spaces appear bright and airy, no doubt, a nature-inspired place in which to conduct business.


Owner: Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh
Architect: Tropical Space (https://tropicalspaceil.com/)


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Long An House: A Charming Brick House in Vietnam

Long An House: A Charming Brick House in Vietnam

Long An House: A Charming Brick House in Vietnam

/ Long An, Vietnam /

/ Story: Nawapat, Nipapat Dusdul / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki /

An attractive brick house in Vietnam’s Long An Province is the pride and joy of Tropical Space, a homegrown design studio specializing in mixing traditional Vietnamese brickwork with modern architectural styles.

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

Inspired by the beauty and durability of brick, Tropical Space recently built the innovatively designed home on 750 square meters of land.

The sloped roof house plan combines three separate living spaces into one modern home with strong architectural language.

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

The result is a beautiful blend of the traditional and the modern. There’s something that never changes. Brick is used here because it’s inherently a Vietnamese material used in building construction, and it’s indigenous to the area.

At the same time, with a deep understanding of Vietnamese culture and climate, the architects at Tropical Space are committed to the use of environment-friendly building practices and sustainable material selection.

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

The brick house in Long An is designed for a warm and humid climate. To maximize ventilation efficiency, the architects divide the sloped roof into two parts and put a courtyard in between them.

There are corridors connecting the two parts of the house. Meantime, perforated brick walls allow breezes to pass through and around the building.

Traditional Vietnamese design provides continuous functional spaces that stretch from the front to the back of the house. Boundaries between spaces are marked by the different quantity of light that varies from place to place.

It’s a brilliant layout that keeps the interior living spaces cool all year round without air conditioning.

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

The front yard floor is covered in brick pavers with holes capable of draining storm water fast and keeping ambient temperatures cool in summer. Next to the yard is a buffer space designed to create a beautifully transitional room from the yard to the living room, dining room and bedroom.

The kitchen is on the north side of the house plan along with other functions. It’s ideal for traditional Vietnamese cooking and offers very relaxing family rooms.

There are two bedrooms on the mezzanine with plenty of space for a quiet reading room and relaxation. The architects also put in stairs on both sides to easily connect with other areas inside and outside of the house.

This not only gives the children a play area, but also enables them to move around unhindered by solid walls.

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

Vietnam Traditional Brick House

Vietnam Traditional Brick House


Architect: Tropical Space


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