City Oasis Apartments

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

CITY OASIS APARTMENTS

K.A Studio

CATEGORY
Lodging

LOCATION
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

ARCHITECTS
K.A Studio

AREA
330 m²

YEAR
2020

PHOTOGRAPHS
Hiroyuki Oki

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Doan Quoc Khanh

MANUFACTURERS
Hafele, Boen Flooring VietNam – HTSG, Damsan, Duravit, LYK, MaiHoang Paint, Panasonic

CONSTRUCTION
La Maison Du K

LIGHTING DESIGN
Kobi Lighting Studio

DESIGN TEAM
Dang Anh Khoa, Hoang Anh Dung, Tran Quoc Nhat, Le Duc Duy

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

CITY OASIS is a serviced apartment redesigned and rebuilt from an old building with 27 rooms varying in size (24 – 45 m2).

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

The building is located on a 330 – meter – square site, in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City.

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

Sai Gon is a large urban area of Viet Nam with a high density of population, transportation, and construction, which leads to many problems, nowadays, unsolved such as pollution, traffic jam, lack of green space, etc.

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

Living in a crowded city with a high average temperature all year round, people find it hard to figure out somewhere nearby to enjoy their short–term days off or vacations away from the heat and fast life pace of urban area.

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

With the urge to create a green space with shades in order to help people enjoy their staycation without leaving the city, we decide to connect people with nature through our design.

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

When we headed out to the site to have our observation and assessment, here’s the thing: Spaces and levels handled unsuitably, stuffy rooms, heavy and unnecessary balcony columns, … Instead of expanding the area of construction, we tried to keep the a large void on the site, respect and conserve most of the current plants.

The solutions we offer for this are retaining the structural columns and beams, removing all the redundant ones and making room for daylight and plants, applying ventilation for the spaces – corridor included and finally proposing large curtain walls in order to make the boundary between inside and outside fade away, creating different gardens for each room.

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

From the entrance, we design a short curved path leading inside, making it look like an interesting walk among diverse types of plants, water and light before people come to the lobby and move into their own rooms.

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

The appearance of the building, as well as its façade, is created from the natural curves, surrounded by the green layer with many small tropical trees varying according to the position.

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

Therefore, the balcony system on each floor is not the same. The voids among this balcony floor are given priority to grow tall trees, providing the apartment with fresh air and a relaxing atmosphere.

We consider each room as a home. Hence, minimal interiors are highly recommended. 

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

To motivate the interaction between people and nature, we make use of eco-friendly materials that bring strong emotions and traditional handmade materials: Naturally regenerating woods, local split stones, lightweight concrete, terrazzo, rattan, …

The building represents a tropical forest where each person can experience his own peaceful garden without being disturbed by noises or dust in the urban area. The building also has a small winding pool where people can immerse themselves in the water enjoying tranquil greenery around in such a hot dry summer.

We hope that this project can partly help wash away the heat and improve the climate changes in a polluted city and eventually form a strong bond between humans and nature.

City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki
City Oasis Apartments
© Hiroyuki Oki

“To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment,” said Jane Austen


City Oasis Apartments
Section
City Oasis Apartments
Section perspective
City Oasis Apartments
Sketch
City Oasis Apartments
Diagram


City Oasis Apartments
Plan - Site
City Oasis Apartments
Before and after renovation plan
City Oasis Apartments
Plan - 1st to 3rd floor
City Oasis Apartments
Plan - 4th and 5th floor
City Oasis Apartments
Plan - 6th and roof floor