The Bloom Architects tops Tile House with inverted roof in Vietnam
Red tiles envelop the roof and walls of this family home, which Vietnamese studio The Bloom Architects has arranged around a central courtyard in the city of Bao Loc.
Appropriately called Tile House, the home in the Central Highlands region is designed by The Bloom Architects to remain cool despite the tropical climate.
The tiles on its facade and roof facilitate natural ventilation, bringing cool air into the house through small slots in the wall, while the central courtyard helps to distribute air and light through the spaces.
"The house is located in a disadvantageous position in that it can only get good wind in the front," lead architect Dinh Anh Tuan told Dezeen.
"We decided to create a trap with a high roof system in the front and a low inside to get the wind and send it throughout the house, [leading] to the green spaces outside," Tuan continued. "The house looks like a funnel, surrounded by wind holes."
Tile House is defined by its inverted trapezoid roof, with all surfaces pitched towards the central courtyard. This open space allows for rainwater collection and is designed to provide thermal comfort in both the rainy and sunny seasons.
"[In the] rainy season, the house acts as a funnel to collect water into an underground water tank and water it back onto the roof and trees around the house using an automatic irrigation system," explained Tuan.
"[In the] sunny season, tiles surrounding the house prevent it from being radiated [with] heat," they continued. "Combined with natural ventilation, the house is always cool."
From the street, a white-painted wall acts as a base, supporting the angled forms of the upper portions house that are clad in the red-clay tiles.
On entering Tile House, a transitional indoor-outdoor courtyard space leads to the main living areas. These are oriented around the central internal courtyard, where a tree is planted beneath a circular lightwell.
The living room, kitchen and dining room open directly onto this internal courtyard, and also onto small external patios with planted borders that define the perimeter of the plot.
All the living spaces and bedrooms have generous double-height ceilings, with large picture windows offering views of the green patios.
Internally, the house has a natural material palette with warm wood floors and joinery in the bedrooms, stone-tiled floors in the living spaces and grey textured panels in the bathroom. A standout detail of the interior is the children's bedroom, which features a mezzanine-level reading nook accessible by a ladder.
Other residential projects in Vietnam recently featured on Dezeen include a lakeside tree house made from recycled materials by H2 and a concrete-framed house on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City by SDA.
The photography is by Oki Hiroyuki.