For this, this large garden is divided into different parts that are distributed throughout the house. This is achieved by creating a series of volumes that are set back in height while rotating, generating a spiral path. On the other hand, the material that defines the project is brick; a material with easy local access that reduces the cost of housing on the one hand (an indispensable condition for this project) and on the other hand reduces the environmental burden on transport.
Ha House is one of the 'Tree Houses' projects carried out in recent years by Vo Trong Nghia Architects. With this they try that the vegetation in the houses is an indispensable part of it, not a simple plant or tree, creating a closer relationship between nature and residents.
Project description by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
This is the private house project for the three-generation family located in an emerging residential area, 30 minutes by car from the city center of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Surrounding of the site, newly built houses are built one after another and form a high-density city while sharing the outer wall with the neighboring house. The site of project is an example as well, and it was decided to be built with a slender site of 7 m × 20 m.
Among such typical high-density residential development areas in Asia, we tried to propose housing that summarizes the environment of a tropical climate in which green and resident’s lives intertwine.
The client’s first request is A big garden: a green garden where children can play and have BBQ with everyone. In addition, it was hoped that big swimming pool along with spaces for exercise , grandmother’s bedroom, living and dining including kitchen and sufficient parking lot, all on the ground. Hence, we proposed to divide the first hope large garden into smaller spirally connected gardens.
-One garden-
Specifically, as the volume of the building is climbed from the ground floor, it is gradually set back while twisting. And on the top floor, it is configured to protrude by a 2m cantilever to the front road side. Various level of gardens are made of a combination of a tree pot and a floor of terrace and these are three-dimensionally continuous from the ground floor to the roof while spirally penetrating the building.
Each tree pot is always arranged to surround the terrace floor, and it also functions as a blindfold from a front road, while creating a tree shade that weakens the harsh sunlight, depending on the type of planting. The terraces are arranged on each floor with variety of size according to function, it can be a private garden which can go out directly from each bedroom, or public garden which everyone can gather. All of these gardens are individual, but it is also 'one-garden' where residents and kids can run through by the outer steel staircase.
In the inner space, the ground floor and the first floor are connected by a huge central void, and the living + dining, kitchen, library and the kids bedroom become one space and residents can always feel each other.
Meanwhile, through openings of various scales and proportions, residents can also dynamically connect to the outside environment with full of greenery.
Thus, we hope that rich relationships will be established such as connection of people and people, people and the natural environment.
-Environmental strategy-
The gap among the volumes shifted allow not only the plants and the inhabitants, but also natural light and natural wind to pass. In such elongated site where it tends to become closed, we have acquired an open environment. By reducing the amount of sunlight directly hitting the outer wall by shaded volumes and the green arranged on the facade, it was taken to reduce the running cost of future air conditioner score.
Because of non-abundant budget, it was required to make the finishing cost as low as possible. Therefore, we consistently use bricks which is commonly used at construction sites in Vietnam. Since worker-fee is low compare with material costs in this country, construction expenses can be reduced cheaply by finely grinding the brick finish. Also, bricks, a material of local products, can reduce the environmental burden on transportation.
-Connection of people and people, people to nature-
This project is one of the latest works of the series project 'House for trees' which we have been continuing in recent years. Among them, we aimed not only to plant trees in houses, but also to create a new type of house for trees which the life of residents and nature are more closely intertwined.
