my new office........It locate in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam....the architecture design office....

some picture .........the garden 2

...garden 3

...garden 4

view of architecture design area.....

inside the showroom.....

.....inside showroom....

...and I working here.....and the view to the garden 5

.......when you see me from level 1 floor......

Well done to all involved :clap: :clap:
Nice to see someone taking the opportunity & going the next few steps beyond that. :not worth :clap:
I have so many questions not sure where I will start ...

Structure ~ more information please (lots more)
Not sure why openings are not in line with cage modules
Thermal insulation? Air tightness?
Roof specification ?

Services ~ how is electrical done?

Cost per square metre compared to normal construction type in your district?

How did this design evolve?

Details ~ Relating to climate how much rain do you have & what happens to stop water ingress?

Congratulations on a Very Strong Concept :rock on: :rock on: :rock on:

Congratulations and thanks for posting!

Do you have any detail of the walls, how are they made? are those prefab panels?

Well done to all involved :clap: :clap:
Nice to see someone taking the opportunity & going the next few steps beyond that. :not worth :clap:
I have so many questions not sure where I will start ...

Structure ~ more information please (lots more)
Not sure why openings are not in line with cage modules
Thermal insulation? Air tightness?
Roof specification ?

Services ~ how is electrical done?

Cost per square metre compared to normal construction type in your district?

How did this design evolve?

Details ~ Relating to climate how much rain do you have & what happens to stop water ingress?

Congratulations on a Very Strong Concept :rock on: :rock on: :rock on:
thanks your question, I start answer......first about electrical you can see it in the picture and we used the box control the light, and beside its we make a drip edges, this is the way for water runs outside. I known the building is not good when it is located in Vietnam, because in my country, it rains continually.
The building is cost more expensive than normal building, the material is not problem, but the cost of worker is very high. example 1USD/metre for normal building but my building costs 3USD/metre but we live for art....

a light reception and the director room...........

Congratulations and thanks for posting!

Do you have any detail of the walls, how are they made? are those prefab panels?
the picture can help you about detail off walls, they are made by rock and steel angel, I used module 1200x1200 box of rock, I will see your a drawing of detail soon. Thanks for your attention.....

Excellent work Hena. The gabion walls are surprisingly adequate for the soft tight curves in the plan. The concrete slab textures match well with the walls and the top roof slab detail is very nice. The patio elements work well and provide light and openness overall as a contrast to the heavy walls.

some picture about the door, we used steel and steel mesh

some drawing of detail

detail of roof........:P

some picture.....after 2 months finished...;)

the space relax......after working........and going home...:D

....and we working.....

Can you provide photos of the context? How does it look from the exterior? What kind of structures surround this project? Google location kmz maybe?

How actively were you involved in the construction? Can you tell us about the construction process or problems?

hena, this is a beautiful piece of architecture - simple on one side, complex on the other. the small courtyards/gardens the snake form creates are very pleasant, the material combination works very well.

there's one big issue I'm not sure about - it may be based on the same principle as Lacaton & Vassal use in some of their houses - the concept that lets you experience the climatic effects like rain even inside your house.

from the drawings I understand that there's no barrier in the gabion wall which would prevent rain water, dust, and all kinds of insects from getting inside the office. am I right? now can you describe what happens during those heavy rains you talk about? do you really have rain water flowing in the interior drains?

The Project and the building is beautiful... the artificial lights are not ergonomic and adequate... however congratulations... :cheers:

How did you solve the problem of settlement of the stones in the Gabion walls ? Did the roof & floors move much after construction ?

My only hesitation is that the Lighting could be improved, no doubt you will update this over time. I am sure it looks better in real life than the photos show.

I hope this brings you much work in the future. You all deserve it.

the resulting building its simply beautifull. i really like the relation and beeing opened for the green outside (especially your office). but for me the interior by itself (from the pictures) looks a little "cold"...
Its a great project and its even greater to see it build.:rock on:

example 1USD/metre for normal building but my building costs 3USD/metre but we live for art....


Wonderful building, I especially like the rock walls, I drank in a bar in sarajevo with the same walls once. Thank you for posting the details, due to the language problem and an alcohol problem i never managed to find out from the manager how they were used.
The cost of building, surely not 3USD/M2? This is the labour cost I take it? even so... Building costs in the UK are normally calculated at about USD 1950/M2 for fairly basic construction.

Can you provide photos of the context? How does it look from the exterior? What kind of structures surround this project? Google location kmz maybe?

How actively were you involved in the construction? Can you tell us about the construction process or problems?

What kind of structures surround this project? we used module, module 1200x1200 include rock and steel, sometimes we used rock column loading capacity (you can see the previous picture about details of wall)
During process, we have problem about structure document :confused: , we don't have full knowlegde about structure...ang we managed to put it right :)
But I think we don't meet with serious difficulties to built it. ;)

You can see it in the Google Earth.......

hena, this is a beautiful piece of architecture - simple on one side, complex on the other. the small courtyards/gardens the snake form creates are very pleasant, the material combination works very well.

there's one big issue I'm not sure about - it may be based on the same principle as Lacaton & Vassal use in some of their houses - the concept that lets you experience the climatic effects like rain even inside your house.

from the drawings I understand that there's no barrier in the gabion wall which would prevent rain water, dust, and all kinds of insects from getting inside the office. am I right? now can you describe what happens during those heavy rains you talk about? do you really have rain water flowing in the interior drains?
dhaa, you are right, this is a big issue, Vietnam is a tropical country, and you know we have so much rain and dust:(.....we know its but we are indulge structure....:) We have a some heavy rain and this is not a problem (I will give you some picture when its rains) because the water rain can't drop in my place....dust....we don't have a ideas for solve :), my comtuper cover with paulin after I going home......:)

The Project and the building is beautiful... the artificial lights are not ergonomic and adequate... however congratulations... :cheers:
thanks your praise,
yes, you are right, the artificial lights are not ergonomic and adequate because when we building it, we don't prepare for the light, one part we have no time (three month to built) and two part we have intend used desk lamp for office and the light hide in rock wall but we don't use it, but all of them are failure and we used neon_light :(

How did you solve the problem of settlement of the stones in the Gabion walls ? Did the roof & floors move much after construction ?

My only hesitation is that the Lighting could be improved, no doubt you will update this over time. I am sure it looks better in real life than the photos show.

I hope this brings you much work in the future. You all deserve it.
Thanks ReD,
You don't worry about this structure, simple this is a frame structure, we have use column rock (you can see in the picture detail of wall) to bear all the roof's capacity and the beam is hide into the gabion wall (you can see in the drawing of details)
After contruction, the roof and floors don't move much because this structure is very stable :)

Wonderful building, I especially like the rock walls, I drank in a bar in sarajevo with the same walls once. Thank you for posting the details, due to the language problem and an alcohol problem i never managed to find out from the manager how they were used.
The cost of building, surely not 3USD/M2? This is the labour cost I take it? even so... Building costs in the UK are normally calculated at about USD 1950/M2 for fairly basic construction.

lewisuk, my english is not good :D , and I'm sorry, perhaps I didn't make myself clear or I don't clear what you say...can you please take it clear..;) due to the language problem and an alcohol problem i never managed to find out from the manager how they were used.
The cost of building, I example.....not true...I compare it.....it's not real value :P

Oh, so its three times the normal cost? I see, makes more sense :)
So how much did it cost to build per SqM?

hena - congratulations a beautiful building - I'd love to see it next time I visit Vietnam!
very inspirational - so much better than most of the "western style" buildings that seem to be dominating the architecture of your beautiful country!

I think lewisuk means that he could not find out more about the building in sarajevo because he could not speak the language and had a little too much to drink to communicate in other ways!!

Again - congratulations

How many work in the practice? what sort of work does the firm do?

Oh, so its three times the normal cost? I see, makes more sense :)
So how much did it cost to build per SqM?

we cost 37,000USD for built this building, its means ~120USD/1SqM

hena - congratulations a beautiful building - I'd love to see it next time I visit Vietnam!
very inspirational - so much better than most of the "western style" buildings that seem to be dominating the architecture of your beautiful country!

I think lewisuk means that he could not find out more about the building in sarajevo because he could not speak the language and had a little too much to drink to communicate in other ways!!

Again - congratulations

How many work in the practice? what sort of work does the firm do?

I think that this building has a very spiritual value because of available its position, I also know that this building in VietNam is not suitable because of climate condition but we like architectural job so much, therefore we have to do any thing if possible.....thank for caring us building :cheers:
I will be very glad if you visit us building once time, I'm really happy. There is no problem to build but we have many difficult problem in usuage because Vietnam's climate, If climate gets interaction, building will be more perfect
I very like your country architecture style, I see that Australia's building is very modern by book and manazines, I hope I visit there once time in the future....

This is a building that I would love to experience. I would be really interested in the degree that you are separated from the outside... how does noise [traffic, for instance] travel into the space?

This is a building that I would love to experience. I would be really interested in the degree that you are separated from the outside... how does noise [traffic, for instance] travel into the space?

Thanks Dsarch,
yes, during designing project, this is the main important, on the master plan, the architecture design office was put in the end of S- Shape, to make long distance from streets, and we are very lucky when us building located in the small streets and there are less noise....and the noise can't travel into the space design....:D

first i want to congratulate for this project. 37,000USD for this building! i think is very cheap and the project is very very interesting. is this floor concrete? keep up ! is thickness of walls calculated accord to thermal standards ?

Well done, the building is really beautiful on many levels.

One concern/question that I have is that you say "we have many difficult problem in usuage because Vietnam's climate", do you, and I guess all PPB memebers in general, not think that is important to design architecture that is climatically responsive as well as being innovative and beautiful?

...we have many difficult problem in usuage because Vietnam's climate,....

I found that also to be an interesting quote. I would like to know more about why Hena seems to think that the building does not work well for the climate. Maybe I got the wrong impression with all the patios, and the building is not open enough? Taking a second look at the photos it does seem to need more openings.

Our climate is very similar to Vietman's. There are two strategies that work relatively well with the climate. One is what the spaniards did, typically mediterranean. Provide thick walls that help keep the extreme heat out by retaining some of the night cool climate while providing multiple interior patios and ventilation. This worked well in older urban areas such as Old San Juan. The other strategy is what the indians and other locals developed for traditional open country living, a building with large overhangs and multiple openings all around. Sort of a building with a large mexican hat to provide shade and let the cross ventilation in. This one worked well out in the country open spaces.

I thought Hena's design was looking to have more of the first strategy. People in our are are more resistant to heat in the environment than others. Most houses are not fully air condtioned, although most offices are. If you decide to have the building air conditioned, the strategy of thick walls also works to help keep the heat out and the cold in.

Great project, Hena, congratulations, the volumetry and inner spaces are simple amazing. About the cost of the building it is almost impossible to believe, in my country with this money you can build a very modest house of maximum 150 square meters.

What is the Square Metres of the building Henna? Also Volume?

For your cost/m2 rate in the UK

120usd $ /1 Sq m = £60.00 GBP /1 Sq m = Not Possible in the UK unless you are very very inventive and/or building a shed type structure

What is the Square Metres of the building Henna? Also Volume?

For your cost/m2 rate in the UK

120usd $ /1 Sq m = £60.00 GBP /1 Sq m = Not Possible in the UK unless you are very very inventive and/or building a shed type structure

hi Red,
the building costs in every country are differ. In South East Asia countries the building costs are fairly cheaper than in the US or European countries (except for Singapore perhaps). In Jakarta (Indonesia), the average building construction cost would be around USD200 for a modest house. So I guess the USD120 for Henna's building is probably just right :)

Well done, the building is really beautiful on many levels.

One concern/question that I have is that you say "we have many difficult problem in usuage because Vietnam's climate", do you, and I guess all PPB memebers in general, not think that is important to design architecture that is climatically responsive as well as being innovative and beautiful?

yes, I think so, but when we design project, we care about weather conditions and realistic condition, the project is reasonable.
I think the architect is good when they solve real problem concerned
Do you think so, Feigetl?