A central Vietnam house that axed the option to axe trees

The house is built on a 500 square meter piece of land in Do Luong District, Nghe An Province, 137 miles south of Hanoi. It was previously a garden that had five old trees. To retain the trees, the house went around them.

It was designed by architect Nguyen Khac Phuoc and his colleagues at Nguyen Khac Phuoc Architects. Completed in August 2017, the design is a pointer to ways in which houses can be environmentally-friendly and not destroy nature.

The owners are a couple with two young children. The house has wooden floors, three bedrooms, two toilets, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room and a laundry drying area.

One of the old trees that was not cut down. The owners requested the architects to keep all trees on the plot intact. So the flora on the plot decided the design of the house.

The house's space is interwoven among large trees, and their foliage was treated as the second roof of the building.

Functional spaces are connected by the central lobby space of the house and the garden.

The multi-faceted living space is exposed to nature, which is visible from every angle.

The design has "wind traps" to keep all parts of the house well ventilated.

Great care was taken to minimize the impact of excavation on the trees’ roots and branches.

The house’s stone paved walls also host greenery.

The roof has been built with waterproofing and heat-proofing system using a 5cm thick gravel layer.

The model of the house that preserved all the big trees on the plot of land.

Photos by Hiroyuki Oki