Nested House / 4i Design

Nested House / 4i Design

• Architects: 4i Design
• Area: 210 m2
• Year:2020
• City: Cam Le District – Da Nang City
• Country: Vietnam

Nested House – when nature is brought into every small corner of the house.

The house is owned by a young married couple with two children. Our team came up with the idea of connecting Nature – Architecture – Human, to create a fresh, youthful and dynamic place for living and growing.

The requirement is to design a fully functional house, with a large campus on a “soft ground” for a 3-generation family. Hence, it’s challenging for us to create a space that meets every family member’s needs and the residents can interact with each other, at the same time ensuring the construction cost is only 1.2 billion VND. The exterior is distinguished by the simplicity of the microclimate architecture applied to the building, which greatly reduces operating and maintenance costs. The house is divided into two large blocks with small blocks inside – that is the result after carrying out studies on the model to bring a space that is harmonious and suitable for the residents’ lifestyle.

In continuous urbanization, the greening of buildings is essential for a quality living space with many effects of environmental conditioning, providing fresh air, reducing fine dust, and especially providing food with roof garden application. After carrying out the research, we separate the spaces; execute ground clearance and different elevation displacements to enable the ventilation of fresh air and natural light into all the functional spaces. The result forms the roof stairs and becomes a secondary land for the owners to grow plants and clean food. This strategy not only improves the microclimate but also increases the possibility of human interaction with nature.

From the inside, all windows are carefully arranged so that each one has its own interesting view. In addition to the vegetable garden on the roof, the owner also has an outdoor garden on the ground floor to grow large trees and fruit trees. The family enjoys seeing the flowers and fruits they grow, as well as experiencing the four seasons’ garden. Tall trees act as soundproof barriers, creating privacy and preventing the direct morning sunlight into the house. They can use these green spaces as a playing space for children to study and relax in the evening, as well as a place to store food for the family. Their daily life does not only exist inside but also outside the house, all in the same plot of land.

Each space connects to the other in a continuous cycle, with no rigid separation. The airy living room overlooking the garden has high ceilings and light slits to limit direct east and west sunlight. The frame structure system is covered with reinforced concrete as the fulcrum and covers the floors made of box steel; floors are covered with industrial wood floors to reduce the load of the house as well as construction costs. Service areas such as the kitchen, bathroom, stairs, and corridor in the west are built enclosed to limit heat radiation; the green space behind the house cools down and makes a view of the master bedroom, and kitchen for ventilation through the house. The vertical change of the space creates a pressure difference. Therefore, when the surrounding houses are built, natural ventilation is maintained. Thanks to these strategies, the house always stays cool in the tropical climate.

Article: Dilys Do

Photos: Huynh Van Rac.

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