Saigon apartment’s incredible makeover

By Thai Binh    January 2, 2019 | 06:21 am PT
Instead of the usual gypsum, curved oak panels are used in the ceiling, and moving partitions have replaced walls.
Photos courtesy of Hiroyuki Oki

Photos courtesy of Hiroyuki Oki

This second floor apartment in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7 has an area of 145 m2.

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Its owner works as a director of marketing, a busy man who did not want to return home every night to a square concrete box, which is common in the country’s most populous city.

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He approached Creative Architects (CTA) and told them to design a space completely detached from the bustling atmosphere outside so that he can immerse himself in a book or close his eyes and sleep whenever he wished to.

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He wanted not just a normal residence with bedrooms, living room, kitchen, dining room, but a "fresh" space that would help him recharge his batteries after a hard day’s work.

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So all the walls were knocked down and replaced with moveable partitions. Thanks to this, the apartment turned into a versatile space with a lot of functional flexibility.

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To soften the space, the ceiling was covered in a stylized, wavy layer of oak, helping diminishing the rigidness of a traditional apartment.

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After five months of work the owner had a unique wooden home emerging, butterfly-like, from the rough apartment.

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The cost came to VND1.2-1.5 billion ($51,500 - $64,400). The wood alone cost VND900 million ($38,650), the bricks for the floors and walls cost VND100 million ($4,300), and sanitary equipment cost VND40 million ($1,700).

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The apartment has made it to the nomination list in the "Furniture of the Year" category at the 2018 Ashui Awards sponsored by the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association.

 
 
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