Hue house offers disabled access to the good life

By Minh Trang June 24, 2020 | 09:00 pm PT

A family home in central Hue Town features ramps instead of stairs to afford inhabitants ease of access.

Located in the central town of Hue, the 257-meter-square house is home of a three-member family: a couple who is at their nineties with poor health conditions and a 60-year-old daughter, the breadwinner. The daughter, Lien, is a Japanese teacher and has been living with a wheelchair since she was a child due to her disability.

Located in the central town of Hue, the 257-meter-square house is home to an ailing couple in their nineties and their wheelchair bound, 60-year-old Japanese teaching daughter Lien.

No stairs are available but a ramp system for the disabled is installed in many parts of the house. The ramp runs through the garden before getting inside and upstairs ensuring Liens movement in a wheelchair around the house to take care of the garden and other activities in every corner of the house on her own.

A ramp system serves several areas of the house, including the garden.

Located in Hue, where the temperature is extremely high in summer and long-lasting cold rain in winter, so the house with its facades is protected by a buffer zone of greenary. This helps homeowners minimize the problems of heat, wind, and noise from the outside.

Hue suffers extremely high summer temperatures and long-lasting, cold bouts of winter rain, hence the house is protected by a buffer zone of greenery, minimizing problems related to heat, wind, and external noise.

Glass doors and windows connect the inside and outside smoothly.

Glass doors and windows seamlessly connect the inside and out.

A system of iron balcony is installed outside the second floor with lotus patterns aims to not only strengthen the security but also become the shield that restricts the sunlight into the house.

A second storey, lotus pattern grid helps secure the premises and restricts harsh sunlight.

The ramp on the second floor with a lot of voids to encourage ventilation and air convection. The skylight lets natural light penetrate, helping the house take advantage of natural, fresh energy instead of depending on artificial equivalents.

Minimal decoration encourages ventilation and air convection, while skylights allow natural light to penetrate ever recess.

Slope section of the house.

Photos by Hiroyuki Ok