a stepped garden provides produce for the residents of the red roof house in vietnam

TAA design, an architecture firm based in ho chi minh city, has completed a small property in the vietnamese province of quang ngai. the dwelling, named ‘red roof house’, is topped with a vegetable garden that also serves as place for socialization and interaction. built on a plot measuring just 80 square meters (860 square feet), the home is located on the main road of a rural village that has, in recent years, been changed dramatically by rapid urbanization.

all images courtesy of TAA design

built for a married couple in their 50s, who have been living in the area their entire lives, the house’s design is based on the daily activities of the residents: gardening and drying the paddy after harvest. as the site is relatively small, it was decided that the ground floor would contain a number of different functions, including: a bicycle repair space, a living room, a kitchen, a traditional outdoor wood stove, the master bedroom, toilets, paddy drying yards, a rice warehouse, and a chicken yard.

small courtyards have been strategically positioned throughout the design — in the front, middle, and back of the house — to connect the indoor spaces with nature. ‘instead of having a large yard like other houses in the village, we created many courtyards with different heights, suitable for the height of the house structure,’ explains TAA design. ‘on the mezzanine floor, there is a small yard connected to the yard in the middle of the house.’

the rooftop garden is adjacent to the courtyard on the mezzanine floor, creating a playground and vegetable garden that connects the roof to the ground floor. fresh and readily available, the vegetables from the garden can be used in meals everyday. the abundance of produce is often shared with neighboring families, with the architecture credited with generating interactions with the surrounding community.

in addition, the garden also helps to insulate the house — (the internal temperature is reduced significantly compared to corrugated steel roofs). the project also helps reestablish a rural architectural typology: the stepped roof reduces the height of façade and ensures that it does not overpower its surroundings. ‘the red roof house has the intent to keep, to store, and remind the familiar rural lifestyle,’ says the design team.

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project info:

name: the red roof
architecture office: TAA design
architects in charge: nguyen van thien, nguyen huu hau
contractor: local
location: quang ngai, vietnam
site area: 80 sqm (861 sqf)
complete: 2019