Project Credits:
- Architects: SAVA Architects
- Design Team: To Quang Cam, Aron Beh Kawai, Pham Le Ai Quyen, Nguyen Huu Quy
- Location: Vinh City, Vietnam
This is a conversion and renovation work, located at the center of Vinh, a city in Vietnam. The people in Vinh are yet to be exposed to Architecture that can be beautiful and inspiring. Generally, buildings in Vinh are either built rapidly without consideration for people’s well-being or a replica of the European Colonial style.
The existing building is an old 3-story retail building built in the early 2000s, selling electrical and home appliances. The Client approached us to refurbish and renovate it into a well-being and beauty spa. The brief is to create a facade that is both inviting and attractive. The Client also requests for the design to have abundant natural light and greenery deep inside each space, which is currently dark and moldy.
Our solution is to use fiber-reinforced concrete (FRP) planters as the building facade. The planters are designed in modules for quicker and higher-quality fabrication. Their sizes are also designed to be optimal for ease of transportation with standard common trucks.
In order to introduce natural lighting into the building, the existing staircase and partial floor slab at the center of the building will be demolished to create an atrium with a skylight above. This will illuminate the darkest area of the building. In addition, a curved metal staircase is proposed at the atrium to replace the existing staircase and is specifically placed around a central green courtyard. Moreover, the same strategy is applied at the back side of the building, so the building receives natural lighting from the front and back façade, and rooftop.
Lastly, the existing corrugated roof will also be replaced to house a café and rooftop dining space that is bright, airy, and surrounded by shrubs and plants on proposed concrete planters.
The description is provided by the architects.
SAVA is an architectural design firm based in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, and Danang, Vietnam.
Their work is inspired by the mountains in Northern Borneo and the coastlines in Central Vietnam.
