The Stepping Park House Welcomes The Greenery unto itself with Open Arms

Envisioned as a continuation of a park on its northern edge, the Stepping Park House welcomes the greenery unto itself with open arms , creating a heightened sense of integration into its surroundings.

This House is located in a new residential area of Ho Chi Minh City, with a park on its northern side. It is a rare opportunity to get a site in Ho Chi Minh city which is adjacent to a green public space. Hence, the architects focused on designing a house which becomes an extension of its environment by integrating the green of the park into the interior space of the house.

The living area on the ground floor; the void as seen from the first and second floors;

trees brought into the interior reinforces the melding of the park into the house

Family room on the second floor

A large void was created by cutting the volume through the three floors, in a diagonal direction of the section. On the ground floor, the void serves as a living room, open to the park and on the top floor as a green covered family room. The façade surrounding the void is covered with ivy plants. Louvres provide shadow on the top floor. The void incorporates both circulation elements and natural elements like plants and trees, providing the private rooms with additional natural light. It gives a feeling of continuity of the park, to all three floors of the building. The house aims to create an environment similar to a forest, despite being indoors.

Filtered sunlight pervades into every corner of the house, in particular the common areas

Carefully curated plants and trees on the second floor

first floor bedroom

Contradictory to the common spaces, private rooms such as bedrooms are placed in solid volumes. Planting trees in the opening of these volumes blocks direct sunlight, cools the wind and brightens up the interior space with green.

master bedroom bathroom

The void that is opened diagonally upwards brings natural ventilation through the house, as a result of the chimney effect. In that way, the use of air conditioners is minimised. Walking through the space, one will feel the wind moving from the living room to the top floor of the house. Green facade eases the intense sunshine of the tropical climate. The model becomes a precedent for housing in tropical climates.

For the architects, this house is one of the latest projects in its housing series called ‘House for Trees’ – a response to the short-age of green spaces in Vietnam, and the resulting environmental problems such as urban flooding, overheating and air pollution. Presenting solutions to these problems are an urgent challenge that architecture needs to address, and the architects have integrated green as much as possible, even in small houses, creating pockets of ‘parks’ in the city.

Project Information

Project Name: Stepping Park House

Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Architect Firm: Vtn Architects (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)

Project Principal: Vo Trong Nghia, Hidetoshi Sawa

Project Architects: Nguyen Van Thien

Date Of Completion: 2018

Site Area: 252sqm

Floor Area: 475sqm

Construction Company: Wind And Water House Jsc

Photography: Hiroyuki Oki