Blog : Vietnam

10 Inspiring Modern Tropical Houses

10 Inspiring Modern Tropical Houses

Living ASEAN has selected our favorite houses in the ASEAN for 2017. Of course, all of them present practical solutions for living in the hot and humid climate of Southeast Asia, including a bamboo house in Thailand, a concrete block house in Thailand and a modern tropical house in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Check them out!


THAILAND // A BAMBOO HOUSE EMBRACED BY NATURE

A bamboo house with contemporary appeal sits immersed in its natural surroundings. The home that’s also a medical clinic belongs to Nopharat Pitchanthuk MD, and his wife Kanyapak Silawatanawongse. Without question, his interest in the natural therapeutic concept is expressed in the warm, inviting atmosphere of the home office. The orthopedic doctor provides specialized care for the musculoskeletal system in the comfort of a peaceful country setting.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/a-bamboo-house-embraced-by-nature/

 

Concrete Block House
THAILAND // CONCRETE BLOCK HOUSE

Intanon Chantip, INchan atelier architect and owner of this HUAMARK 09 building, designed it to test theories he’d arrived at through intense study and experience. He wanted the architecture to tell its own story through the charm of materials that change over time. Intanon and his wife Tharisra Chantip bought this a 30-year-old, 80 square wa (.8 acres) property in the Hua Mark district, demolishing the old house to erect a new four-storey mixed-use building with usable space of 490 square meters and combine office, residence, and art studio.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/concrete-block-house/

 


VIETNAM // MODERN TROPICAL HOUSE IN HO CHI MINH CITY

The architecture of this modern tropical house in Ho Chi Minh City is perfectly suited to the hot, humid climate, with an imaginative counterpoint of plants, greenery, and airy openings keeping it shady and pleasant inside and out.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/modern-tropical-house/

 

Waterside Home
THAILAND // WATERSIDE HOME

This waterside tropical house brings back memories of Thai life as it was along Khlong Samsen in bygone times. From outside it looks straightforward and contemporary, but inside is a fascinating mix of antiques from the owners’ collections.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/waterside-home/

 

Wooden Thai House in the Lanna Tradition
THAILAND // WOODEN THAI HOUSE IN THE LANNA TRADITION

This Lanna Thai house of wood is built based on ancient local traditions. It has a simple, relaxed, and open look. Natural breezes blow all day long through its exquisite form, full of the charm of conservation-friendly Lanna craftsmanship.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/wooden-thai-house-in-the-lanna-tradition/

 

trc12
MALAYSIA // BOX-SHAPED HOUSE WITH THE TEXTURE OF MEMORY

This box-shaped house uses architecture, architectural elements, and coordinated interior design to tell stories of the present and the past. The house is located in the Petalang Jaya district of Selangor, Malaysia. This is a district of single homes, but with little space to put up a large house. Still, architect Dr. Tan Loke Mun rose to the challenge of house owner Kenneth Koh and tore down the former structure here to build a new 3-storey home in its place.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/box-shaped-house-texture-memory/

 

Living with Cats in a Beautiful House
MALAYSIA // LIVING WITH CATS IN A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE

Ever wonder why this is a dream house for kind pet owners and their feline companions?.

“I live with my wife and our seven cats in this house,” said Chan Mun Inn of Design Collective Architects (DCA). “There used to be only four, but I adopted more cats. So I ended up with seven of them. They were the reason that we left our old apartment and built a new home in the suburb.”

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/living-with-cats-beautiful-house/

 

Brick house For a Tropical Climate
VIETNAM // BRICK HOUSE FOR A TROPICAL CLIMATE

This rectangular brick home in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City is designed for “hot and humid,” open to natural light and cool from air currents constantly streaming in and out through the bricks. Mr. Tung Do and Mrs. Lien Dinh, the owners here, are newlyweds who wanted a small house with a straightforward design for pleasant living. They had seen Tropical Space’s “Termitary House,” which won, among others, a 2016 Brick Award, and admired its form and design so much that – even with their limited budget – they engaged the Company to design and build their own home.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/brick-house-for-a-tropical-climate/

 

Box-Shaped House with a Tropical Style Garden
THAILAND // BOX-SHAPED HOUSE WITH A TROPICAL STYLE GARDEN

Box-shaped design highlights a perfect blend of form and function, plus an exotic Tropical style garden. The result: A lovable livable home with a panoramic view from the bedroom.

“This house was not built to be photogenic,” said Patchara Wongboonsin, architect at POAR, when asked about his outstanding design. The 350-square-meter, modern cube-shaped house took two years in the making.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/box-shaped-house-tropical-style-garden/

 

Modern House in a Forest Setting
THAILAND // MODERN HOUSE IN A FOREST SETTING

The architect uses clever techniques to make this modern house look like it’s crafted entirely of wood. When her family wanted to build a new house in Thailand’s Northeast, Kanika Ratanapridakul was assigned the task of project architect. It was the first time she had to work directly with local builders and suppliers. Things didn’t go as smooth as planned, but the mission was accomplished – eventually. The key to success lay in being a bit more flexible to ensure things got done right and on schedule.

Read more: http://livingasean.com/house/modern-house-forest-setting/

 

 

You may also like…

10 Inspiring Modern Tropical Houses
10 INSPIRING MODERN TROPICAL HOUSES

Bangkok Is Top Global Destination City, Continued Growth Forecast for 2017

Bangkok Is Top Global Destination City, Continued Growth Forecast for 2017

Bangkok was at the highest place on the chart of Top Ten Global Destination Cities attracting 19.41 million visitors in 2016, outranking London, Paris, Dubai, and Singapore. A Mastercard index released recently showed the Thai capital benefited the most from international travel, while further growth in visitor arrivals were in the forecast for 2017.

/// ASEAN ///

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn), Bangkok / Photo: Tanakitt Khum-on

 

Visitor Volume

The Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index predicted that Bangkok’s visitor arrivals would increase by 4.0 percent in the 2017 calendar year, while Singapore was forecast to move up one notch growing by 2.6 percent and outranking New York (at minus 2.4 percent). Meantime, Kuala Lumpur was likely to post a strong 7.2 percent gain in visitor arrivals for 2017, enabling it to keep its eighth place on the chart.

Kuala Lumpur / Photo: Sitthisak Namkham

From 2009 to 2016, two ASEAN cities also saw strong growth in visitor arrivals, namely: Jakarta up 18.2 percent, and Hanoi up 16.4 percent. Of all 132 destinations across the globe, Osaka was at the top with a whopping 24.0 percent growth in overnight visitor arrivals during the 8-year period.

Overall, international visitors to leading global destination cities increased in the 2016 calendar year. As for 2017, Tokyo’s visitor numbers were forecast to increase by as much as 12.2 percent, making it the strongest growth in visitors among the top ten.

 

National Gallery Singapore / Photo: Sitthisak Namkham

 

Cross-border Spending

The Mastercard index was more than just a ranking of top destination cities across the globe. Apart from international visitor volume, it also looked into tourist spending that contributed to furthering economic growth of countries. For the 2016 calendar year, Dubai was at the top with overnight visitors spending $28.50 billion, followed by New York ($17.02 billion), London ($16.09 billion), Singapore ($15.69 billion), and Bangkok ($14.08 billion), all in USD. Destination cities benefited greatly from tourism. Shopping accounted for 22.9 percent of tourist spending, local service 21.5 percent, and food and beverages 20.6 percent).

Royal Palace, Bangkok / Photo: Aphirux Suksa

Reference:

https://newsroom.mastercard.com/digital-press-kits/mastercard-global-destination-cities-index-2017/

https://newsroom.mastercard.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Mastercard-Destination-Cities-Index-Report.pdf

 

You may also like…

JATUJAK ISN’T JUST FOR WEEKENDS
WAT ARUN RATCHAWARARAM, A MUST-SEE THAI HISTORICAL SITE
WORLDWIDE AIRPORT RANKING 2017: THE BEST AND THE NOT SO GOOD
10 Countries Experiencing the Harshest Effects of World Climate Change

10 Countries Experiencing the Harshest Effects of World Climate Change

 

Four ASEAN countries are listed in the 2017 Global Climate Risk Index Report as among the 10 countries most strongly affected by world climate change between 1996 and 2015.

// ASEAN //

Who Suffers Most From Extreme Weather Events? Weather-Related Loss Events in 2015 and 1996 to 2015 In Order To Report Effects of Climate Change in Various Countries Around The World,” a 2017 Global Climate Risk Index report released by Germanwatch, shows that climate change caused more than 528,000 people to lose their lives between 1996 and 2015, with financial losses amounting to  US$3.08 trillion. UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) estimates suggest that by 2030, total losses will be two to three times greater, and by 2050, four to five times these amounts.

Loss of life, economic loss, and number of catastrophic events summarized in this data table show that the harshest effects have fallen on “developing countries” not rich in resources. In the the top ten are four ASEAN nations. Myanmar is in second place on the worldwide list; most of us probably remember the beating it took from Cyclone Nargis in 2008. An island nation, fifth-place Philippines is listed with the highest number of natural disasters. Vietnam takes the number 8 spot, with number 10 Thailand right behind, its economic losses – $7,574,620,000 US – greater than any of the others. 13th place Cambodia nearly makes the cut to join its ASEAN friends.

Table courtesy of Global Climate Risk Index 2017 by Germanwatch

The Climate Risk Index gives clear indications of the huge effects climate change will have on development, as well as on personal property, quality of life, and national GDP in these countries. A secure future depends on each country having a solid plan for cooperating with nature and with each other. Sitting back and doing nothing as before isn’t an option.

 

You may also like …

THE HIGHEST RECORDED TEMPERATURES IN THE ASEAN

 

7 EXTRAORDINARY TYPES OF STILT HOUSES FOUND IN THE ASEAN
A Modern Breeze Blocks Home in Ho Chi Minh City

A Modern Breeze Blocks Home in Ho Chi Minh City

      / Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Wuthikorn Sut / English version: Peter Montalbano /

/ Photographs: Tanakitt Khum-on /

The architecture of this Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City is perfectly suited to the hot, humid climate, with an imaginative counterpoint of plants, greenery, and airy openings keeping it shady and pleasant inside and out.

Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City

Shunri Nishizawa, architect and owner of this 5-story row house, designed the Nishizawa Architects office into the basement. Floors 1-3 are rented to a Vietnamese family with a bedroom and dining room on the first floor, living room on the second, and more bedrooms on the third. The Nishizawa family itself has its living room on the fourth floor and bedrooms on the fifth.

Levels from the basement up to the fifth floor alternate between open and closed design, according to their use. Catching sunshine and natural breezes, the second- and fourth-story balconies are edged with small gardens.

This makes the tall building less constricted while allowing for easy air circulation from the front through to the back. Alternating levels extend out from the building’s frame, with the floors above shading the ones below.

Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City
Sun diversion screens: the design comes from the hollow brick concept, but uses larger units, so the breeze enters more deeply and freely while keeping intense sun and rain from indoor areas.
Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City
A spiral staircase provides access to the second floor.
Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City
A comfortable work environment at the office of Nishizawa Architects.

The small gardens not only make residents feel relaxed, but also filter out intense light and cool the breezes blowing through. The second and fourth floors feature concrete ceilings sculpted with curves rather than the harsh lines found inside most buildings. This makes the light more diffuse in the interior, creating the relaxing perception of being in a natural stone cave.

Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City

Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City

Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City

Shunri says, “This house shows a true combination of ‘tropical’ and ‘modern’ architectural design coming from understanding traditional living patterns in this hot, humid Vietnamese climate as well as how to set things up perfectly for contemporary life.

“It’s safe and secure living with modern comforts such as air conditioning, yet still answers our need to be close to nature, with sunlight, breezes, and open spaces connecting to garden and plants right here in the house.”

Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City

Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City

The overall design can be adapted to many different functions. Shunri draws on his experience growing up with multipurpose spaces common in Japanese homes. Areas such as the living room are strategically partitioned to block direct light and view, simultaneously giving privacy and an open feeling.

Hollow blocks, a popular Vietnamese building material, inspired the design. They provide shade, aid circulation and effectively protect against sun and rainstorm.

More than just comfortable living, this house offers a charming blend of nature and architecture ensconced in an oasis of calm right in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City.

This breeze blocks Tropical house is actually much better described as a “house and garden” than simply a “building.”

Modern Breeze Blocks home in Ho Chi Minh City

 


Architect: Nishizawa Architects


You may also like…

A Rectangular Brick Home For a Tropical Climate

3×9 House: A Compact Renovated Row House in HCMC

House in Trees: Well-made Home on a Narrow Lot

House in Trees: Well-made Home on a Narrow Lot

/ Bac Ninh, Vietnam /

/ Story: Samutcha Viraporn / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Trieu Chien /

Having to build on a narrow piece of land, an architect creates an urban home ingeniously designed to utilize the space in imaginative ways. Relevantly called “House in Trees,” the slim plan makes the best of circumstances by letting nature permeate.

The so-called “House in Trees” sits on a narrow lot measuring 5 by 15 meters in Tu Son, a county town in Bac Ninh Province, Vietnam.

The area is fast becoming industrialized as the city grows. Putting it mildly, the impacts of urban growth are already being felt, from noise to traffic fumes and other negative effects that come with industrialization.

On top of that, the location dictates that the house be built facing west.

Be that as it may, the design team at Nguyen Khac Phuoc Architects succeeds in creating an uncluttered, incredibly relaxed home for a family with two teenage children.

Where the land is so narrow, the only way to go is up. The slim floor plans afford three bedrooms with baths, living room, kitchen, carport and storage, as well as an entertainment center, worship room, laundry.

The five-story home makes good use of two void spaces, one in front, the other in the center court.

Because the front façade is facing west, the architects fill the front void space with a leafy tree to protect the interior living spaces from hot afternoon sun and traffic fumes.

The second void space at the center is filled with greenery while lush shade keeps the homeowners naturally cool all year round. The idea is to let nature permeate as much as can be.

Tall bamboo and leafy trees diffuse natural light during daytime hours and protect the interior from gusty winds and rain.

The greenery-filled center court not only evokes a walk in the park, but also provides privacy for all the rooms that are set at tree-top levels.
A patch of greenery lines the corridor connecting the living room, kitchen and dining room.

One of the unexpected ways to decorate with plants. Greenery brings good energy, textures, and character into every space.

“The design is done within the context of the home’s unique surroundings,” explained the architects.

“We incorporate nature in the floor plan to promote better living condition for people living in it. Urban growth and industrialization are fast happening and they no doubt have impacts on the environment.”

 


Architect: Nguyen Khac Phuoc Architects


A Rectangular Brick Home For a Tropical Climate

A Rectangular Brick Home For a Tropical Climate

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

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

/ Photographs: Tanakitt Khum-on /

This rectangular brick home in Ho Chi Minh City is designed for a “hot and humid” climate. It’s open to natural light with cool air currents constantly streaming in and out through the brick walls. The homeowners Mr. Tung Do and Mrs. Lien Dinh are newlyweds who wanted a small house with straightforward design for pleasant living. They have found the home of their dreams.

Brick doesn’t retain heat, but insulates against it, and its porosity helps retain early morning moisture which evaporates to cool at midday.
Work corner next to the food preparation section is screened off for privacy.

The owner had seen Tropical Space’s “Termitary House,” which won, among others, a 2016 Brick Award, and admired its form and design so much that – even with their limited budget – they engaged the Company to design and build their own home.

Ms. Tran Thi Ngu Ngon and Mr. Nguyen Hai Long of Tropical Space said:

“We want to build living spaces that connect people with nature, natural spaces that are easy to understand. The beauty of nature can reach deep into a person’s spirit to improve life in ways they would not have imagined before.”

Mr. Nguyen tells us he grew up in a house of brick and never forgot his childhood vision of sunbeams flowing through open spaces between bricks to throw patterns of light and shadow on the light dust in the air, and how beautiful it was.

Little phenomena such as this connect people with their surroundings, and support the choice of brick as a building material.

The brick wall both gives privacy and provides channels for air and light to pass through.

Stair frame of rebar saves space and adds structural definition.

Most of Tropical Space’s design work makes use of brick, partly because the form has a certain beauty, but deeper than that, brick is an inherently Vietnamese material, indigenous to the area.

The designer pays attention to its true characteristics and searches out new ways of using and arranging it, creating channels for wind and light and taking advantage of its moisture-retaining quality.

Seen from outside, the home is a rectangular block that itself resembles one humongous brick. It faces north because of sun, wind, and rain directions, and without being too hot it gets good light all day long.

The ground floor living room features a wall of bricks alternating with open spaces, lighting and cooling at the same time during the day.

Outside, a little distance from the house to the east and west are walls that keep sunlight from directly hitting it, instead reflecting light through the perforated brick wall and into every inside area.

These outside walls also create channels that guide the wind in and out. Trees are planted there, too, which cool the house with their shade.

The house may look a bit severe, but in this tropical climate its architecture aligns beautifully with nature to provide an amazingly comfortable residence built on a moderate budget.

Openings above and on the sides for natural light to enter during the day.

 


Architect: Tropical Space by Ms.Tran Thi Ngu Ngon and Mr.Nguyen Hai Long


Top 10 Houses to Beat the Heat / Tropical House

Top 10 Houses to Beat the Heat / Tropical House

Hot and humid climate being one of the inevitabilities of life, architects across the Region aptly responded with a range of ingenious designs from the cool traditional to the energy-efficient modern. Living ASEAN presents top 10 houses well suited to the circumstances. Check them out.

 /// ASEAN ///

http://livingasean.com/house/modern-house-forest-setting/


 

http://livingasean.com/house/modern-tropical-home-indonesia/


 

http://livingasean.com/house/set-aside-happiness/


 

http://livingasean.com/house/modern-thai-house-traditional-charm/


http://livingasean.com/house/warm-half-concrete-half-wood-house/


From Unexciting Shophouse to Smart Home Office in HCMC

From Unexciting Shophouse to Smart Home Office in HCMC

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Samutcha Viraporn / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Quang Dam /

Home offices are trendy nowadays. Given thoughtful planning, a dull shophouse can transform into a fashionable dwelling and place of business. The results are illustrated in this home office that looks to be one of the trendiest in Ho Chi Minh City.

home office in HCMC

The new design integrates a modern living space and a home office with a factory producing handcrafted leather goods. The house’s front façade is filled up with elaborate structural rod systems reminiscent of a giant labyrinth of beautiful needlework, albeit built of brick and steel.

It’s only recently that a homeowner couple acquired this downtown retail space and later decided to give it a complete makeover. “This house means everything to us because it’s the fruit of constant efforts to pursue our dreams,” said the young couple with an active lifestyle.

home office in HCMC

 

home office in HCMC

“For a product to be successful, say a handbag, it takes many processes involving fastidious needlework,” said the owners comparing their manufacturing job to that of the architect.

“Like meticulous craftsmen, the architect carefully puts together different parts to make a home, mixing old pieces with new ones, replacing unneeded features with practical strategies, and relying on well-thought-out plans to use every ingredient effectively, be it wood, brick, concrete, metal or even trees.”

 

home office in HCMC

home office in HCMC

In a way, this pretty much explains the elaborate structural rod systems that fill up the redesigned front façade. Elsewhere, parts of the walls and flooring deemed to be unnecessary were removed to make room for new ideas.

The remodeled front and rear facades showcase a multitude of steel cube frames welded together to look like a web of fine threads being “sewn” together to fill the void between two side walls.

The welded steel rod paneling is painted white and decorated with climbing plants thriving in full sun. Despite its slender appearance, the design is strong enough for home protection, at the same time creating a light and airy ambience for both indoors and outdoors.

home office in HCMC

Among other things, the old concrete stairway was removed to prevent the indoors from feeling stale and stifling. Then, a new set of airy stairs with no risers between the treads was put in place instead.

For a lightweight look, stair railings were crafted of steel rods painted white with wood treads in complementing shades. The uplifting design rendered the staircase looking as if it were hovering above the floor.

shvf01

In the kitchen and dining area, a long curvy counter stands in contrast to the stillness of rough brick texture on the wall. All in all, clever design has transformed an unexciting shophouse interior into a home office that looks to be one of the trendiest in Ho Chi Minh City.

home office in HCMC


Architect: Block Architects (www.blockarchitects.com.vn)


You may also like…

The Perfect Townhouse Makeover in Bangkok HUAMARK 09: An Architect’s Charming Concrete Block House

Pleasant Box-shaped Concrete Houses in Vietnam

Pleasant Box-shaped Concrete Houses in Vietnam

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Skiixy / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki /

Since its opening, an unusual cluster of five box-shaped concrete houses of different heights conceived by the Vietnamese firm Vo Trong Nghia Architects has been a wondrous sight for lovers of architecture.

box-shaped concrete houses

box-shaped concrete houses

These buildings are actually tree planter boxes set up to make a house for a small family. Besides catching the attention of passersby with trees popping up from rooftops, this clever design also won numerous awards in 2014, including the Ashui Award and a world-class award from Architectural Review.

The land was once used for a factory. Though the factory was demolished, it remains close to the hearts of the owners/family members, which is why they wanted to build the house here.

Due to environmental limitations such as a small alleyway for an entrance, an asymmetrical plot, and a lack of greenery, the owners decided to create a courtyard surrounded by gigantic plant containers. The result is a number of box-shaped concrete houses that resided amid a lush atmosphere.

In this way family members, and even nearby neighbors, can live close to nature.

box-shaped concrete houses

Another impetus for the unique design involves the owner’s 50-year-old father. To provide some relief for his depressive disorder, the design team divided the house interior into five sections.

To move from one room to another, the father and other family members have to walk outside. Lush trees, gentle breeze, birdsong, and friendly neighbors can be good mental therapy.

box-shaped concrete houses

“The five buildings are inspired by plant containers, making this place like a compact oasis in a residential area. In various alignments with neighboring walls, each building acts as a house divider,” explained the architect.

“Post-construction, the owners now get to view interesting effects created by the various angles. Each building reflects sunlight to create varying tones and shades all day long.”

Walls are the primary features of each building. An interesting exterior surface is created by bamboo pressed on concrete walls with a technique relying on the skills of bamboo artisans.

Not only bearing the entire weight of each box-shaped building, the walls also support heavily water-absorbent rooftop soil.

Normal topsoil is only 30 centimeters deep, but this extra-thick earth is 1 meter deep, more suitable for a large standing tree. The design was developed in consideration of Ho Chi Minh City’s typical flooding.

box-shaped concrete houses

box-shaped concrete houses

As expected, the box-shaped concrete houses has been successful in cheering up the depressive father, and even more, this architectural design uses nature to the benefit of both people and nature itself, helping them to live together in harmony.

box-shaped concrete houses


Architect: Vo Trong Nghia Architects (vtnarchitects.net)


You may also like…

Family Home Surrounded by Warmth and Happiness

Urban Farming Office: VTN Architects’ Office Gives Back Lush Greenery

Stacking Green: Integrating Nature-Inspired Design in a Row House

Stacking Green: Integrating Nature-Inspired Design in a Row House

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Ekkarach Laksanasamrith / English version: Peter Montalbano /

/ Photographs: Soopakon Srisakul /

This residence in Ho Chi Minh City has an interesting form and exterior that has drawn us to see with our own eyes. Named “Stacking Green”, this row house design received an award for outstanding design and architectural works at the 2012 World Architecture Festival in Singapore. It’s not surprising that it received a citation for architectural excellence in the residential building category. The way that it dealt with complex urban problems in a simple way yielded an array of fascinating outcomes.

row house
The stairway reaches the top floor of the house that holds a guest bedroom with a sundeck.

The four-story townhouse offers a total of 250 square meters of usable space. The frontage abutting on the street is 4 meters wide with a whopping 20-meter depth. The interior is especially designed for the three people who live here, one of whom is an old person. Hence, one bedroom is placed on the lowest floor, so there’s no need to climb the stairs.

3
Since the house plan is long and narrow, bringing sunlight into the interior living space is a very good idea.

The second floor consists of a dining room, kitchen and living room, while the third holds the master bedroom with an open floor plan bathroom. The guest bedroom is located on the fourth floor.

row house

It’s a well-known fact that people’s homes in Vietnam are often compactly built in townhouse form to use as little property space as possible, often resulting in cramped residences and unattractive-looking building fronts.

Here, the architects have incorporated privacy in the design so that no one can look in from outside. At the same time, it gives the homeowners a sense of peace and contentment. Overall, it’s a design thoughtfully devised to reduce pollution from the street.

row house
This row house may not have any eye-catching features from the outside, yet its half-open, half-opaque design allows natural light to enter through the rooftop, creating a cozy home ambience within.
As the leafy plants reach their full size, the level of privacy correspondingly increases.
As the leafy plants reach their full size, the level of privacy correspondingly increases.

Additionally, both the front and the back of the house feature rows of containers stacked one on top of the others with open air spaces at intervals. In all of them, lush green plants thrive luxuriantly screening the view inwards and creating attractive façades.

The house also has open ports which run up and down through all the floors. This kind of stack ventilation effect allows for hot air from below to rise and vent out through the rooftop. And by the same token, fresh cooler air is drawn inside keeping the heat down even at high noon.

row house
Sunlight through a glass skylight in the roof shines down into the dining room on the second floor.

5

In the front yard, a leafy shade tree improves air quality, while vertical gardening on the front and back facades has spaces between stacking containers that allow plants to grow. The open spaces between planter boxes are determined by the types of vegetation planted. The full height of a plant is used to fix the spacing between planters on each floor.

Step inside, and you find there are hardly any walls separating the home into different rooms, except for bathrooms. This creates efficient ventilation throughout the home, at the same time giving it an open, uncluttered feel.

Besides giving privacy and cooling shade to the house, the planter boxes and leafy vegetation also act as a safety feature.
Besides giving privacy and cooling shade to the house, the planter boxes and leafy vegetation also act as a safety feature.

In this way, when container plants reach their full heights, they become the outer envelope of the building. Together they go to work all day and every day filtering out harsh UV rays from the sun, at the same time letting the cool breezes flow through.

The architects picked only the trees and plants with fine and delicate foliage so as not to block the wind, and for ease of use, they installed pipes for an automatic watering system.

row house

Concrete planter boxes holding plants on the front and back facades have the added convenience of an automatic watering system.
Concrete planter boxes holding plants on the front and back facades have the added convenience of an automatic watering system.

Architect: Vo Trong Nghia Architects


You may also like…

M11 House: A Comfy Minimalist House in HCMC

3 x 9 House: A Compact Renovated Row House in HCMC

X