NAQ Architecture Wraps Vĩnh Long House in Recycled Terracotta Screens

NAQ Architecture has completed Vĩnh Long House, a narrow weekend residence in Vĩnh Long, Vietnam, designed around a double-skin facade made of recycled terracotta bricks. Commissioned by owners based in Ho Chi Minh City, the 150-square-meter home applies local material traditions to address the harsh tropical climate through passive environmental controls. The project relies on a porous outer wall to intercept direct sunlight, reduce heat gain, and maintain natural ventilation across the elongated floor plan.

Material Origins and Regional Craft

The building’s primary environmental feature is its street-facing screen, constructed from recycled clay units sourced from the traditional brick-making village of Mang Thít. This regional industry provides a familiar material palette that connects the residential structure to local manufacturing practices. The bricks are arranged with staggered joints, creating a textured, perforated layer that wraps the elevation from the ground-level gate to the upper floor. This arrangement breaks intense sunlight into smaller patterns of light while allowing air to move freely into the interstitial spaces behind the wall.

Key facts
Project | Vĩnh Long House
Architect | NAQ Architecture (Lead: Nguyễn Anh Quân)
Location | Vĩnh Long, Vietnam
Completion Year | 2024

Spatial Organization and Interior Light

Behind the outer terracotta screen, an inner glazed enclosure creates protected outdoor rooms and deep balconies that buffer the living quarters from ambient heat and humidity. Inside the elongated footprint, the plan centers around a tall vertical void capped by a glazed roof. This central opening draws overhead daylight deep into the heart of the home and establishes visual connections between levels. Rust-colored stairs and walkways with simple mesh railings run along the perimeter of the void, keeping indoor circulation exposed to the rising warm air and encouraging cross-ventilation.

Passive Climate Strategy and Domestic Function

The ground floor arranges functional spaces linearly, with the kitchen and dining areas leading toward a living space that opens through sliding glass doors onto a planted terrace. White interior walls reflect daylight captured by the central atrium, while terracotta-toned surfaces extend the exterior material palette indoors. Vegetation, including vines spilling from upper balconies and greenery within the terraces, softens the geometric facade and contributes to the passive cooling strategy. By combining a regional material with straightforward spatial stacking, Vĩnh Long House demonstrates how compact urban dwellings in Vietnam can mitigate tropical glare and thermal loads without relying exclusively on mechanical systems.

Source: Designboom, https://www.designboom.com/architecture/perforated-terracotta-screens-naq-architecture-breezy-vinh-long-house-vietnam/

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