ICE – Ideas for Contemporary Environments, became our first AD Futures ever. They have just shared with us DK2, a luxury service apartments project in Hanoi, Vietnam for which they won 3rd prize in an invited competition.
The project is located next to the West Lake in Hanoi. The competition was requesting to create a residential iconic tower of 65 floors. As the project would be naturally dominant in a city of rather low scale, it focussed less on the design of the form of the building, but rather on the quality of the units within to create a user based experience.
More images and architect’s description after the break.
Configuration DK2 consists of 2/3 service apartments and 1/3 apartments for sale, clubhouse and commercial facilities. It is divided into two towers to operate individually. There are two clubhouses: one on the ground, serving the sales apartments and one on the top, serving the service apartments. With the slenderness and height of the towers, the clubhouses work as structural bracing, avoiding the torsion of the buildings.
Site The site design is inspired by the serenity and beauty of traditional Vietnamese landscapes in Hue with their gentle slopes, lush gardens, bridges, reflective pools and lakes. The taller slab is elevated on columns that are footed in the deep reflection of the water while the other tower rests on landscaped gardens, parks and Family Clubhouse offering recreational facilities such as childcare, playgrounds and pools. The clubhouse for the service apartments is located at the skybridge connecting the two towers offering a panoramic view of the city and shared facilities such as an Executive Lounge, Business Facilities, Library, Sky Gym, Roof Pool, etc. This provides a separation of the noisier, more active family-oriented facilities from the quieter, more adult-oriented services.
Units The exterior design of the high rises is an extrapolation of the spatial qualities of the interior and maintains the integrity of the configuration. The sky gardens/courtyards will be a visible exterior feature, highlighting the provision of green, airy private space within each apartment.
There is a distinct Hanoi vernacular style of living where a deep plan of two or more stories is punctuated by a light well or courtyard. This creates a comfortable open section full of light and free-flowing air but shielded from the heat of the direct sun. The courtyard usually doubles as an interior garden as well, bringing a green private space to the homes around which the family gathers.
The units transform the Hanoi court into a high rise typology, producing a maximum of natural (cross) ventilation, shading of outdoor as well as indoor spaces in order to suit the tropical climatic context. The project uses duplex and split level, which evolve around deep terraces and balconies of 2 floors. These outdoor elements are mainly shaded by the facade walls and act as a semi outdoor buffer to prevent heat to enter the units.
