“NHÀ QUÊ” means “House in the Suburban Area” in Vietnamese. The task of this project is to find a solution to comfortable living conditions in the tropical countryside, inheriting and integrating the local lifestyle and living tradition into a new form of architecture. Our client is an elderly couple; neighboring buildings surround their land and has only one 1.2m-wide approaching path from the main street with limited views to the outside. We provide a universal design without differences in level through all the main spaces of the house to provide good mobility for the elders and secure open views with natural lighting and ventilation while preventing the area from eyesight around.

To realize that we locate two L-shape spaces with different heights for common uses, such as living areas, dining areas, and private uses, such as resting areas and powder areas, facing each other and embracing an internal courtyard at ground level without any gaps. All the spaces are publicly opened to this courtyard, while each space is privately opened to the outside. A support area is located on the second floor, including the maid's resting area and machine area, and will be used mainly by the maid of the house and technical personnel when necessary. The height of each volume is considered to cut out the eyesight from the surrounding buildings to provide privacy for the space.

With this layout, the spaces are continuously unified, connected with one another, and open to the landscapes such as the front yard, back yard, and courtyard. The borders between spaces and between “inside” and “outside” fade away, providing a feeling of living in spaces rather than rooms separated by walls. In the countryside, communication and interaction between people are frequent and friendly with warm feelings; such spaces would be a suitable environment for this lifestyle. Locations of openings are also considered to bring in the natural lighting to every corner of the spaces and enhance the breezes throughout the whole area to maximize the use of natural energy.

We try to recapture this essence from the traditional dwellings of the Vietnamese countryside, represented by the “Ba Gian” house, where every space is continued with others and opened to the surroundings, and integrate it into the new form of architecture, which is upgraded with comfortable equipment and living standards.

Materials are all local and easy to find and handle. Local craftsmanship is maximized with concrete details, brick walls, wooden items, stacked glass panels, etc., to demonstrate the capability and promote the skill of local workers rather than using prefabricated/mass-produced materials. We use curves and multi-dimension details for the concrete to soften the material, bringing in the feelings of a traditional Vietnamese wooden house that is familiar to the people. The stacking styles of the brick are also studied to display the characteristics of the material best and also to create lighting effects when it is exposed to the sun or artificial lighting.

During the development of the architecture field in the country, the design and construction of Residential Dwellings in suburban areas have less priority and attention than others in urban areas.  We would like to take this opportunity to propose a solution for a way of living in the tropical countryside, a “close-to-nature” enjoyable environment. We hope this project will become a model for “Nhà Quê” (houses in suburban areas) and improve the living conditions of the people here.