Vo Trong Nghia Architects creates a “Cave-Like” Nocenco cafe with a swirling bamboo ceiling in Vinh City, Nghe An, Vietnam
VTN Architects creates a “Cave-Like” Nocenco cafe with a swirling bamboo ceiling in Vinh City, Nghe An, Vietnam. This renovation project includes a café on the last floor and the rooftop of a 7th-floor middle-rise concrete building located in the city center of Vinh City in the middle north of Vietnam.
From these levels, one has a great view over the surrounding low-rise houses, towards the river, magnificent forestscape, and various aged buildings.
The buildings in this area were damaged by the Vietnam War. Most of them were also renovated with colonial style façades inspired by European designs.
Nowadays, regardless of their height, some of the buildings still imitate this kind of façade style.
The client is required not to change the envelope of the existing building but to create a unique and attractive addition that changes this building into an icon of the city.
The challenge was to create an impact on the building by inserting a new structure with unique and local materials.
After studying several local materials such as brick, stone, etc, we chose bamboo to work with. Through our experience, we know bamboo is easy to access in this tropical climate, which reduces construction time and budget.
The essence of using bamboo in this project is “lightness.” Bamboo can be lifted up by a few workers and easily transported to the highest floor by a crane.
In addition, it is possible to install the bamboo structure without any additional structural support.
For the 7F (top floor), we covered the existing concrete structure with bamboo material, which converted it into an element that creates spatial qualities. Because the ceiling is covered with bamboo as well, pedestrians in the city can recognize the space from the street.
There are 10 bamboo columns to hide the existing structure and 4 additional columns. These columns elegantly divide the space into different private areas.
The cave-like space can never be experienced in its totality, but every place has a view of the surrounding city.
The enormous dome structure on the roof, which can be recognized from any place in the city, a roof top club is created as a gathering space for all the inhabitants of Vinh city.
The dome and rectangular volumes on the rooftop fit in the existing L-shaped space. The rectangular volumes generate a framed view of the historical stadium and the beautiful cityscape. Moreover, it connects 2 vault bamboo structures that open up to the cityscape.
Project Details:
Architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Nguyen Tat Dat
Design team: To Quang Cam, Le Hoang Tuyet Ngoc, Takahito Yamada
Office Credit: VTN Architects (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)
Status : Built in 2018
Location : Vinh City, Nghe An, Vietnam
Footprint : 438m2
FA : 687 m2
Contractor: VTN Architects
Photographs: Trieu Chien
Via > VTN Architects
