Tropical House 2
TROPICAL HOUSE 2
Aro Studio
ARCHITECTS
Aro Studio
LEAD ARCHITECT
Dang Minh Trong, Tan Nguyen, Duc Nguyen, Minh Nguyen
LEAD TEAM
Dang Minh Trong
DESIGN TEAM
Tan Nguyen, Duc Nguyen, Minh Nguyen, Hieu Le
MANUFACTURERS
Rolandoor Glass
PHOTOGRAPHS
Hoang Le
AREA
1000 ft²
YEAR
2025
LOCATION
Bắc Giang, Vietnam
CATEGORY
Houses
English description provided by the architects.
Tropical House 2 is conceived as a vertical village for an extended family, where architecture, greenery, and shared domestic life are interwoven into a living ecosystem that responds to the tropical climate.
The project is located at No.1 Hung Vuong Street in Bac Giang City, Vietnam, on a corner site within a dense residential neighborhood.
With an east-facing main façade and a long side oriented to the north, the site offers favorable conditions for natural light and ventilation, while also presenting challenges related to heat control and privacy in an urban context.
The client envisioned a home for a large two-generation family with nine children and grandchildren—one that could support collective living while still allowing individual spaces and long-term adaptability.
In response, the architectural strategy shifts away from a compact, enclosed volume toward a horizontally layered spatial structure.
The building mass is articulated through setbacks, cantilevers, deep balconies, and planted voids, reducing the perceived scale of the house and creating shaded semi-outdoor spaces.
This layered form softens the building's presence and establishes multiple points of contact with nature.
The roof is treated as a second living ground, where green roofs and outdoor spaces extend the landscape vertically.
This green layer improves thermal performance, regulates the microclimate, and retains rainwater, while also providing shared spaces for family activities.
Interwoven throughout the architectural volume is a system of planted atriums and skylights, allowing daylight and natural airflow to penetrate deep into the interior.
These voids promote cross-ventilation and stack-effect cooling, while also serving as visual connectors that strengthen relationships between floors and across generations.
Rather than functioning as a conventional single-family residence, Tropical House 2 proposes a model of tropical living rooted in coexistence.
Through layered massing, green roofs, and interlaced atriums, the house becomes a spatial framework where family life, nature, and the urban environment are brought together in a balanced and sustainable whole.
