vo trong nghia's 'urban farm office' returns tropical nature to the city

vtn builds its own studio space

In response to the rapid urbanization of Vietnam, the architects at Vo Trong Nghia (VTN) complete a lush Urban Farming Office. The project is built in remembrance of the untouched tropical forests that once sprawled across the country, but have now become crowded and over-polluted cities. ‘New generations in urban areas are losing their connection with nature,‘ the architects tell designboom. ‘The country is facing changes as it moves to a manufacturing based economy, taking its toll on the environment. Increased droughts, floods and salinization jeopardize food supplies.’

images © Hiroyuki Oki

reconnecting with vietnam’s natural roots

The recently completed Urban Farming Office now stands as the studio space for Vo Trong Nghia Architects. The building was designed to reconnect with the natural roots of its site — a newly developed area in Ho Chi Minh City. Thus, the architecture reintroduces green space to the city while promoting safe food production with a facade overgrown with plant-life.

The facade takes shape as an assembly of suspended planter boxes hosting various native plants and facing broadly out toward the sun. The architects explain: ‘This green approach will provide safe food and comfortable environment with minimum energy consumption, contributing to the sustainable future of city.’

combating a changing environment through architecture

Addressing the heat island effect of the polluted urban area, VTN’s ‘vertical farm’ creates a microclimate throughout the building to ensure comfortable interiors. Separated by a layer of glazing, the facade of plantings acts as a shading device, at once filtering direct sunlight and purifying the air.

A system of rainwater collection works to irrigate the hanging vegetation while naturally cooling the air through evaporation. Opposite the green facade, the northern-facing walls are contrastingly solid with small openings introduced to ensure cross-ventilation, an additional strategy for passive cooling.

inside the ‘urban farm office’

Vo Trong Nghia designs its ‘vertical farm’ with simple construction methods, including a concrete and steel structure off of which modular planter boxes are suspended. The team continues: ‘Planter boxes are replaceable, therefore they can be flexibly arranged in accordance with height and growing condition of plants, providing sufficient sunlight.’

‘Together with roof garden and ground, the system provides up to 190% of green ratio to the site area, which is equivalent to 1.1 tons of harvest. Various local edible plants, such as vegetable, herb and fruit tree, are selected contributing to biodiversity of the region. They are maintained with organic treatment method.’