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A Red-Facade House Stands Tall in the Fresh Air and Sunshine
kangsadank

A Red-Facade House Stands Tall in the Fresh Air and Sunshine

/ Hanoi, Vietnam /

/ Story: Kangsadan K. / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Nguyen Viet Tien, Nguyen Tuan Nghia /

A house facade painted crimson looks unusual in a way. It stands out a mile protecting a tall and slender home from the elements, while robust openings in the exterior keep the rooms comfortable and warm. The seven-story building seems to tower over everyone else in a crowded old town neighborhood of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital. The design intention is clear. To overcome the challenge of limited space tucked away on a narrow street, the only way to go is up, yet an architect has found a way to make the house blend with the environment. Plus, it’s full of life and energy, snug in the warmth of natural daylight and gentle breezes. On every floor, greenery thriving in semi-outdoor rooms adds restorative effects, turning the narrow-front red-facade house into a breath of fresh air.

red-facade house
The crimson red façade boasts unique architectural features, making the seven-story home stand out from the crowd.
From a distance, the crimson red home stands out from the crowd, silhouetted against the skyline of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital.

It all starts with the need to add living space as a family gets bigger, in the meantime, creating a calm, relaxing shared space in the home. It’s a circumstance that tasks the architect’s abilities to effectively deal with site constraints.

Diagrams illustrate spatial arrangements and the integration of green spaces in the house plan. / Courtesy of Nghia-Architect
Diagrams illustrate spatial arrangements and the integration of green spaces in the house plan. / Courtesy of Nghia-Architect
Diagrams illustrate spatial arrangements and the integration of green spaces in the house plan. / Courtesy of Nghia-Architect
Diagrams illustrate spatial arrangements and the integration of green spaces in the house plan. / Courtesy of Nghia-Architect
Diagrams illustrate spatial arrangements and the integration of green spaces in the house plan. / Courtesy of Nghia-Architect
Diagrams illustrate spatial arrangements and the integration of green spaces in the house plan. / Courtesy of Nghia-Architect
Diagrams illustrate spatial arrangements and the integration of green spaces in the house plan. / Courtesy of Nghia-Architect

The result is a box-shaped home running lengthwise in an elongated rectangle, one that makes the most of limited space and the problem of overcrowding in the area. It strikes a balance between privacy and shared space made beautiful by rooms and functionalities perfectly blending together to become a whole. Meanwhile, the house façade performs an important role for which it is intended: connect with nature.

A drawing shows the process of conceptualization in different phases from start to finish. / Courtesy of Nghia-Architect

The seven-story home has living rooms on the first and second floors, while private residential areas with bedrooms are put away in quiet places on the third and fourth floors. The communal space that’s the heart of family life is on the fifth floor.

red-facade house
The first floor living room is plain and uncluttered, creating an inviting atmosphere in the home.

It holds a kitchen and dining room conveniently connected to a cool and restful sitting room on the sixth floor. The altar for the traditional veneration of family ancestry is on the seventh floor adorned with a small green oasis, yet it provides enough fresh air to create indoor thermal comfort. Needless to say, the view from high up is calm and peaceful.

red-facade house
Albeit small, the dining room on the fifth floor is well-lit and well-ventilated.
red-facade house
Limited space notwithstanding, the kitchen opens to the fifth floor balcony designed for ventilation and fresh air, a way to get rid of cooking smells fast.

Among the most outstanding ideas is the house façade that works like a display of large picture frames showcasing pleasing views of the surrounding cityscape. Where appropriate, double height ceilings create an expansive and visually striking interior, while the balconies up front are adorned with thriving small gardens.

red-facade house

red-facade house
Greenery thrives in the rooftop garden affording a panorama of the cityscape.

Together they provide the feel and functionality connecting to all the rooms, bringing natural light and fresh air to all seven floors of the building.

red-facade house
A rooftop skylight provides ventilation, meantime, illuminating an herb garden and kitchen directly underneath it.

Apart from that, interior design is unique in every detail. Especially worthy of note is the steel pedestrian bridge painted white that connects the third and fourth floors. Along the way, curved lines add a gentle touch to the house plan, a clever hack to reduce the harshness of color and texture on the façade and exterior walls.

red-facade house
A pedestrian bridge connecting the third and fourth floors has perforated steel flooring with wire mesh infill paneling that allows light to pass from the rooftop all the way to the first floor.

Plus, the interior feels light and well-ventilated, thanks in part to perforated metal paneling that improves airflow and affords views of lush gardens irrigated by harvested rainwater. In a few words, it’s a home abounding with greenery at every turn.

Architect: Nghia-Architect

This house appears in the special Baan Lae Suan issue on the theme of “Cozy Living in Urban Homes” is out now. Design lovers, this one is for you. It’s the latest in the ongoing “ASEAN Tropical House Series”.

The exciting new bilingual edition (Thai-English) is a nice little collab between the Baan Lae Suan Press and its English language media arm Living ASEAN. It’s the coming together of ideas for dealing with the problem of limited space, turning site constraints into solutions. Precisely, it looks at problem solving techniques, ultimately creating small urban homes that are right within the context of Southeast Asia. In this issue, ten houses are chosen for their exemplary designs that inspire. It’s meant for architects, designers, and homeowners searching out new ideas for creating a living space that’s cozy and comfortable plus it blends in beautifully with the environment.

Available at bookstores nationwide. Or go online. Order now at https://www.naiin.com/product/detail/621643

For bulk international orders, contact livingasean.bkk@gmail.com

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A White Row House Enchanted by Greenery and Natural Light
kangsadank

A White Row House Enchanted by Greenery and Natural Light

/ Vung Tau, Vietnam /

/ Story: Kangsadan K. / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Apinine Thassanopas /

Greetings from Vung Tau, a coastal city about two hours by car or ferry from Ho Chi Minh City. Like everything else across Vietnam, it’s the very picture of an urban landscape dominated by long and narrow houses uniformly sized as part of a continuous row. They are nicknamed “Tube Houses” for the shape that’s much longer than it is wide. The same is true for this white row house in Vung Tau that has since been renovated, beautifully integrating elements of nature in the house plan. The result is a complete home makeover enchanted by the magic of light and shadow in architecture. Plus, a green garden oasis gives it great aesthetic pleasure.

The fresh white house exterior stands out from the rest.
Diagrams illustrate space utilization at every level of the house plan. / Courtesy of SDA (Sanuki Daisuke Architects)

The stunning white row house has five levels including the rooftop deck. It towers above everyone else in the neighborhood. The first floor holds a carport giving access to a room for guest accommodation tucked away at the rear. In the in-between space, a flight of stairs leads to the homeowner’s private residential areas located upstairs. The second floor contains a spacious living room with dining room and kitchen nearby.

The first floor holds a carport up front with a passage giving access to a bedroom for guest accommodation and a hobby room at the rear.
A flight of stairs gives access all the rooms and functionalities located upstairs.
A bi-fold door system opens from one end to the other, connecting the second floor living room with a nearby courtyard.

The quiet and secluded third and fourth floors hold bedrooms for family members. They are conveniently connected to the fifth floor that’s a rooftop deck filled with terraced vegetable gardens. There are bright interior courtyards adorned with lush foliage and a shade tree thriving in the middle of the floor plan illuminated by rooftop skylights.

The white row house consists of spacious platforms, staircases and passageways enclosed with walls. At the center of the floor plan, a tree rises from the courtyard below filling the void of space all the way to the rooftop.
white row house
The third floor room with a high ceiling has a view of functional spaces within the home.

Overall, it’s an outstanding design showcasing well-thought-out spatial arrangements. Among others, semi-outdoor living areas up front bear some resemblance to a porch or a patio, only they are nicer and bigger than the average room size in the house.

white row house
The bedroom with a courtyard view. Well-thought-out design turns every room into a breath of fresh air.

As the architect intended, they evoke pleasant memories of open public spaces in the city. Sunny and airy with lush leaves at every turn, they take up much of the space between the front façade and the midpoint of the house plan on the second and third floors.

white row house

Meanwhile, the breathing façade allows fresh outdoor air to enter and circulate inside. Exceptionally good is the third floor living area that benefits a double height ceiling. It’s an enchanted garden where house plants grow vigorously in full sun shining in through rooftop skylights.

white row house

Needless to say, the most important element of design is the perforated metal façade painted a cool-toned white. Built in a uniform style, it starts from the ground up and rises all the way to the uppermost point, ultimately becoming a part of the rooftop. From sunrise to sunset, perforated metal panels cast shadows on the walls and floors directly underneath them.

white row house
A living room is filled with greenery thriving in containers, while the perforated façade and rooftop paneling cast shadows on the walls and floors.

Besides letting the fresh air and sunshine stream into the interior, they work in tandem with shade trees and understory plants in the yards, filling the rooms with the magic of a light and shadow show. Like poetry in motion, the show goes on all day as time passes, adding unique and unusual features to a beautiful work of architecture.

Architect: SDA (Sanuki Daisuke Architects)

This house appears in the special Baan Lae Suan issue on the theme of “Cozy Living in Urban Homes” is out now. Design lovers, this one is for you. It’s the latest in the ongoing “ASEAN Tropical House Series”.

The exciting new bilingual edition (Thai-English) is a nice little collab between the Baan Lae Suan Press and its English language media arm Living ASEAN. It’s the coming together of ideas for dealing with the problem of limited space, turning site constraints into solutions. Precisely, it looks at problem solving techniques, ultimately creating small urban homes that are right within the context of Southeast Asia. In this issue, ten houses are chosen for their exemplary designs that inspire. It’s meant for architects, designers, and homeowners searching out new ideas for creating a living space that’s cozy and comfortable plus it blends in beautifully with the environment.

Available at bookstores nationwide. Or go online. Order now at https://www.naiin.com/product/detail/621643

For bulk international orders, contact livingasean.bkk@gmail.com

You may also like…

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