Vietnamese architecture firm atelier NgNg has built a house on a narrow plot of Vietnam, featuring a woven bamboo screen made of vertical bamboo sticks to protect the house from West sunlight and provide a high degree of privacy.

Located in Saigon, Vietnam, the 192-square-metre house is situated on a narrow site - measuring 4 meters to 12 meters in a crowded residential area of the city. The site is blocked by neighboring buildings on three sides, having only one side facing the exterior, yet, toward the West.

However, the architects used the beneficial aspects of the plot and used verticality in an efficient way by creating several internal gardens and suspended plant pots inside the building, which provides an airy, thermally-controlled spaces with abundant green areas.

As the studio explains, this was a special request coming from the owner, who were passionate about gardening, wanted foremost an airy and relaxing space after a tiring working day, with abundant green areas to satisfy her hobby back in the countryside.

"To resolve the above-mentioned constraints while enhancing natural lighting and ventilation, we decided to omit partition walls within the house, using "greenery" and "void" to separate functional spaces," said atelier NgNg. 

Named Floating Nest, the house includes three large voids: a front and a back gardens, spanning all three floors, separating the streets and the house; a central light well, across the two upper floors, separating the home office from the resting area, the garden from the place of worship.

The studio designed small gardens which are used similarly to separate the interior and exterior; the toilet and bedroom or kitchen; the bedrooms and stairs. 

According to the architects, "this solution creates smooth spatial transition while ensuring that all functional spaces are in contact with nature."

They used materials as a combination of contemporary and traditional, such as bamboo, wood, combined with glass, iron, which are reminiscent of spaces in Vietnamese villages.

Since bamboo is a cheap, sustainable, natural material that is found plentiful locally in Vietnam, the architects preferred it for both reason for being environmentally friendly and economical. 

They created a bamboo screen that spans the length of the façade. "The "rattan walls" in traditional architecture in Vietnamese countryside, protects the whole house from the severe West sunlight and maintain a high degree of privacy," added the studio. 

While the woven bamboos allow for natural ventilation, this bamboo curtain rolls up to shade the rooftop. The Computer Numerical Control (CNC) iron partitions with cut leaves, a stylized version of the traditional wind screen (bình phong), function as a light and air convection device. 

"CNC iron is also used as sunshades on balconies and for the entrance gate." 

"They altogether create the feeling of a house as an open, connected whole. The bamboo ceiling at the backyard skylight, right over the stairs, is made up of vertical bamboo stick." 

This technique also provides a visual connection with the façade while serving as a sunshade. It also lets light go through, creating not only interesting shadows but also happy sounds like wind chimes hung in gardens.

"Thin sheet iron is used for architectural components that are often built with concrete such as stairs, plant pots, balconies, sunshades to reduce structural weight," the studio continued. 

"Moreover, they are designed to look like being hung freely in the air. This material is also used as the backdrop for the alter, worshipping area – the most important space within the house, which extends into the lower floor and becomes the meditation space."

"These different strategies make the whole house feel light, as if it were floating in a large green space and filled with light," they summarized in a project description.  

At dusk, when the sun sets, the light from inside the house shines through the gaps between the bamboo trunks and the leave cuts on the iron walls, making the house look like a lantern in the middle of the neighborhood.

Roof plan

Roof top plan

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

Second floor plan

Mezzanine plan

Section

Section diagram

Elevation

Project facts

Project name: Floating Nest

Architects: atelier NgNg 

Location: Saigon, Vietnam

Size: 192m2 

Date: 2020 

All images © Quang Dam

All drawings © atelier NgNg

> via atelier NgNg