G8A Architecture & Urban Planning

Concrete Lace

Concrete Lace
© Nguyen Duy Thanh

CONCRETE LACE 

G8A Architecture & Urban Planning

ARCHITECTS
G8A Architecture & Urban Planning

LOCATION
Hanoi, Vietnam

YEAR
2016

CATEGORY
Sustainability

PHOTOGRAPHS
Nguyen Duy Thanh, Le Hai Anh, Patrick Bingham-Hall

Text description provided by architect.

Growing mysteriously from the ground, concrete columns move rhythmically, branching and wrapping four levels of the courtyard building.

Concrete Lace
© Patrick Bingham-Hall
Concrete Lace
© Patrick Bingham-Hall

Concrete Lace is illuminated by the soft golden light of the setting sun, becoming a part of the skyline. Evening light shines through, interweaving between the concrete skeleton and the skyline. 

This curious building is part of Village 3 in the High-Tech Park master plan. Inspired by local, traditional North Vietnamese village features, the exposed courtyard radiates four path-ways; connecting to the lush external landscape and acting as four entrances that reminisce the main gates of a traditional village.

Concrete Lace
© Patrick Bingham-Hall
Concrete Lace
© Le Hai Anh

The grid structure of 12×25 meters allows a highly flexible and efficient use of space.

Mixing green areas and open spaces they enhance the user’s experience through the building; inviting them to exchange, relax and enjoy the landscape.

Concrete Lace
© Nguyen Duy Thanh
Concrete Lace
© Le Hai Anh

Sustainable design is ubiquitous; through maximizing natural light, natural ventilation, gardens inside offices, sky gardens, rain water recycling and the use of local eco-friendly materials.

The external layer acts as a key sustainable element of the building. It integrates climbing trees, acting as green protection against the sun, its density and thickness has been care-fully adapted from different orientations and facade exposure.

Concrete Lace
© Le Hai Anh
Concrete Lace
© Nguyen Duy Thanh

Together these elements create a dynamic green building that is integrated in nature and connected with its environment.

Traditionally when a building was in a state of “ruin”, often the aftermath of abandonment and neglect, it became an inconvenience of sorts and disregarded.

Concrete Lace
© Patrick Bingham-Hall
Concrete Lace
© Nguyen Duy Thanh

The very notion that a building has gone past its “expiry date” is truly archaic and in conflict with the fundamentals of “sustainability”.

Here, the “sustainable ruin” looks beyond aesthetics and dives into a holistic approach, becoming inherent in the lifespan of a building that can have adaptable future uses.

Concrete Lace
© Le Hai Anh
Concrete Lace
© Patrick Bingham-Hall

This very intriguing idea was further developed as the Future Ruin concept under the umbrella of G8A's think tank 8+ and exhibited in 2015 at Hanoi Design.


Concrete Lace
Section


Concrete Lace
Model

Concrete Lace
Typical floor plan

G8A Architecture & Urban Planning
T +65 6221 4118
G8A Architecture & Urban Planning
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