The architecture in a specific city is mostly influenced by its location. The ancient capital of Vietnam, Hue, for example, remains to appear ancient despite the modernization of nearby cities. The area is also narrow and has a humid tropical climate. It gets extremely hot in the summer while rainy in winter. To adapt to these conditions, most of the residential structures here are still a tube house with a rather plain, old, and safe architectural form.
3fconcept was commissioned to design a residential home 10 minutes drive from the city center. The client wanted their home to be different from the traditional homes in their neighborhood. They didn’t want to live in a “box” but rather in a place where they can relax after a busy working day.
Working on an approximately 450 square meters land, the architect opted to build the house with a total floor area of 180 square meters (the ground floor is only 80 square meters). The rest of the space was used for landscaping, swimming pools, and planted gardens. The initial challenge was to ensure the house must be fully connected to the surrounding large landscape space. Their solution was to design the master plan in both directions.
The ground floor is designed with the simplest form possible. It is a horizontal continuation from the fence wall, stretching across the horizontal land, dividing the garden into 2 parts: the front area is the entrance with the parking lot, swimming pool, outdoor party area, and behind is a garden with vegetables and fruit trees. The first floor is arranged perpendicular to the ground floor and stretches along the land to have a view of both the front and back gardens that have been mentioned. With the console structure reaching out 2.5 meters, the upper bedroom block becomes a large eave to cover the ground floor area. The eaves are an extremely important element in tropical architecture, it helps block the hot sun shining as well as the rain in winter directly into the house.
The architect also planted a large tree with a shade on the ground floor that penetrates the balcony upstairs to cool the area in the summer. They also used a solid-hollow contrast technique. According to the architect, The ground floor is designed to be as open as possible, to connect the landscape front and back, and to promote natural elements and ventilation. The first floor is a solid block with purpose-designed windows.
Since the living area of trees is getting smaller, the firm wants to direct people to nature, coexistence, and respect for nature. Hence, adding abundant green spaces to this residential project.
Photography by Nguyen Dang Hieu