moon house by nh village in vietnam stands out from the surroundings with its futuristic façade

located in thanh xuân, an urbanizing rural area in vietnam, the ‘moon house’ by nh village architects is a locally traditional tube building — a high and narrow structure sharing side walls with neighbors — and is professionally designed so that each room is lit with daylight. conceived as one vertical continuous space flowing from one function to another, the four-story family home’s windows are reminiscent of spaceship illuminators, overviewing the surrounding chaotic townscape.

the chaotic townscape

the site is only 41 square meters, while the street access is 1.5 meters wide, only enough for a motorbike to enter — these conditions have challenged the architects to design a house that is well thought out in terms of natural ventilation and daylight penetration. ‘another challenge for us in this project was re-definition of the lifestyle in the tube-house typology so common to vietnam by re-questioning the function of each room in the house,’ comments the design team.

façade detail

nh village has designed a solemn but easy to access altar space, placed very close to the daily activities of the family and surrounded by natural light and plants. other spaces of the house are conceived as one continuous big room using very few inner walls — these curved dividers and stairs optimize the space of the irregular site constraints and establish a diversity while adding a sense of softness.

view from corridor

living room on the 2nd floor

opening installed at the sloped roof

corridor with plants

altar room

bedroom on the 3rd floor

bedroom on the 1st floor

floor plan

sectional plan

perspective section

project info:

name: moon house

architects: nh village architects

team: tran dai nghia, nguyen phuong hieu, pham thu trang, ha vinh

construction management: vu hong diep

location: thanh xuân, hanoi, vietnam

site area: 41m2

total floor area: 150m2

project year: 2018

manufacturers: inax, dulux, kingled design

photography: hiroyuki oki