Hue, Vietnam
Nguyen Khai Architects & Associates designed a residential project in Vietnam, that was built to create a small ‘ecosystem’ of people, plants, and animals.
They named the project Labri, which means ‘secret shelter’, as the clients, a couple who want to spend the rest of their lives “happily and peacefully.”
The couple owned a site area of 100 square meters, located at the end of a small alley within the citadel of Hue, separated by one of nine ponds in the area.
Having this in mind, the architects created the concept of Labri, as a secret place that would look as “not constructed by the hand of humans, it is just originally and randomly growing up as naturally as the tree coming out of the ground.”
The house has four blocks, covered by three layers, which are glass, vines, and concrete respectively from the outside, with trees on top, and one level. Actually, only 55 square meters of the site are used for construction.
These four blocks that the house consists of, are the living/dining block, kitchen block, bathroom block, and sleeping block, and have different heights and are connected by pathways and accessible through fixed ladders.
The intention of Nguyen Khai Architects & Associates was to create a ‘shelter’ designed not only for humans but for animals and plants too.
Therefore, apart from the human residences of Labri, birds, butterflies, and trees make are also living members of the house, as well as vines and other interior plants.
On top of the house grows a local plant named Frangipani that during the dry season spreads out its branches to cover the house against intense sunlight.
The interior of the house is designed based on basic needs while still fulfilling minimal aesthetics.
“It is nice to blend with nature, to breathe between nature, and go back to the old lifestyle when everything is just as simple as it used to be. we believe that the existence of minimalism in how we think, feel and act will lead us to sustainable value,” say Nguyen Khai Architects & Associates.
The way Labri is constructed, there are no boundaries, no interior walls to separate spaces, and no exterior walls to block the house from the outside world. This way residents can feel closer to the surrounding nature.
Project: Labri
Architects: Nguyen Khai Architects & Associates (NKAA)
Photographers: Hiroyuki Oki
