莲花别墅丨越南胡志明市丨atelier NgNg

Architect：atelier NgNg

Location：Quan 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; | ;

Project Year：2019

Category：Offices;Apartments

In this project, we were asked to renovate an old residential unit into an open, flexible co-working space. The apartment is located on the top floor of one of the few intact pre-1975 apartment buildings in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Thus, we sought to solve three main questions in our design approach: How to preserve the characteristics of the place (renovating the part without disrupting the whole)? How to breathe new life into the existing structure in a sustainable way? How to apply local traditional knowledge in acontemporary design language?

First, we kept the exterior of the apartment untouched, removing the thick paint accumulatedover the years to expose the original wood, concreteand bricks. The original floor tiles were also kept and polished; demolished partition walls were markedwith sheets of iron.These details were to hightlight traces from the building’s past.Light weight structure (i.e. steel instead of cast-in-place concrete) was chosenwhen replacing the old concrete ceiling with a new floor. This solution increases the overallfloor area without adding more load to the building.

Second, we gave new meanings tomost materials salvaged from the existing structure. The wooden beams from the old roof and ceiling (which are usually discarded) were turned into a new partition wall and a bar surrounding the atrium. The beautifully aged dipterocarp wood was lightly polished, keeping its rustic look, connecting the project with the old dipterocarp trees on the street outside. The solid iron doors were turned into working desks while otherwooden doors are reused in the WCs.

Finally, we made use of local knowledge in traditional shop-house construction to solve the project’s primary spatial challenge: transforming a fragmented residential unit into a light-filled, open and continuousworking space.

Our idea was to bring the traditional double-storyshop-house typology into the apartment, applying its prominent feature of the “courtyards.” We cut the roof in two different places to create two “yards,” one in the middle and the other at the back,facing the street. The third “yard” was achieved asthe entrance door recedes from the common hall way, creating a deep porch. Iron planters with tropical plants and lotusesare placed at these areas to bring nature in while giving a sense of the interior gardens often found in traditional buildings. The concept of “double skin” was applied to protect the building from extreme heat: a new tole-panel roof above and an insulated ceiling under the old roof; all three “yards” are equipped with dipterocarp screens.

Different tools were used to enhance visual and physical connection. We minimized the use of partition walls, built only where necessary: the toilets and the pantries. Wall materials were applied purposefully: the wall around the atrium with recycled wood from the old structure and the straight wall with bare solid bricks, visually connected to the rest ofthe building. Small openings were punctured within the brick wall to bridge the interior spaces while a slit in the existing wall by the main entrance bridges the indoor and the outdoor. A bar is designed on the side of the hall way- the front yard, allowing for social interaction.The iron staircase, inspired by the idea of the DNA, dynamizes the courtyard which connects the upper and lower floors as well as theoffice space with the bar- creative working area. The DNA pattern is replicated in the design of the working desks.Here, modern materials and technology are just axposed on the old strtucture: glass and CNCed iron sheets.

Lead Architects: Dung Ngo – Phi Nguyen

Construction consultant: Ngo Viet Hung

Metal technician: Do Van Dung

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