Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamesearchitecture company VTN Architects has just received two prizes for twobuildings in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi at the International ArchitectureAwards 2018 (IAA) hosted by the Chicago Design Museum.

As many as 100 projects have been selectedfor awards among 380 entries sent to the IAA by the end of last year.

Binh House, one of the company’s buildingin a series themed houses for trees, has earned a prize in Multi-Family Housingcategory while The Lantern, a light equipment showroom of Nanoco Panasonic, wona prize in Retail/Showrooms category.

VTN designed Binh House for a family ofthree generations in HCM City, who wanted to feel connected within the homewhile also enjoying some privacy.

The building features gardens stacked onmultiple levels that are visible through openings in the concrete walls.


Binh House’s rooms are spread across aseries of stepped levels interspersed with gardens and planters. Sliding doorsenhance the connections between these indoor and outdoor spaces.

The staggered arrangement of the livingroom, dining area, bedrooms and study area provides views between these spacesthat are always filtered through foliage.

This irregular vertical configuration willalso help to maintain airflow through the building when other plannedresidences are completed alongside the house.

On the ground floor, the property’sentrance opens onto a lounge space separated from a dining area by trees andshrubs growing from a gravel garden.

At street level, the planting ensures shadeand privacy for the living areas, while large trees on the roof also help toprevent direct sunlight from overheating the building.

A garden on the roof of the dining area canbe planted with fruits and vegetables to provide a source of food for thefamily that recalls the traditional Vietnamese lifestyle.


Service spaces including the kitchen,bathrooms, stairs and corridors are positioned along the western edge of thehouse to prevent unwanted heat from reaching the most frequently occupiedareas.

Sustainable and robust materials such asstone, wood and exposed concrete help to further reduce the building’senvironmental impact, as well as its operational and maintenance costs.

The Lantern is a four-storey buildingoccupying a 72-square-metre plot in Hanoi’s Dong Da district. It is used as ashowroom and gallery by Nanoco Panasonic Company.

To help the building stand out from thebusy streetscape, as well as a row of trees in front, the architects gave it adecorative facade, using terracotta blocks with flower-shaped perforations.

These blocks allow light to seep in gently.In daylight, they also form a canvas for different shadow patterns cast by thetree foliage, while by night they allow the building to glow.

A steel and glass structure is set behindthe perforated facade. There is also a large void in the southern corner of thebuilding, which ensures that daylight reaches the rear of all four floors, aswell as the basement.

A staircase with wooden treads and aslender handrail occupies this space. The showroom is arranged around thisstairwell on the three lowest levels, allowing visitors to view products whilewalking up and down the steps.

This gallery features a skylight thatreveals a roof garden. There is also a concrete window seat that cuts into theperforated facade to let visitors perch and view the streetscape below.

VTN Architects is run by noted architect VoTrong Nghia, who has received numerous international prizes and honours, includingthe World Architecture Festival Award, the ARCASIA award, the WAN 21 for 21Award, and the FuturArc Green Leadership Award, among others. In 2012, he wasnamed Architect of the Year in Vietnam.-VNS/VNA