the recycled brick forms a second skin
Along a narrow plot in Vĩnh Long, VietnamNAQ Architecture offers a family weekend home with a deep layer of recycled terracotta brick. THE screen it wraps the street elevation from the gate to the ground level on the upper floor, framing the recessed openings while giving the 150 square meter building a warm, porous face. Sourced from the traditional brick-making village of Mang Thít, the clay units link the house to a materials industry that already exists in the area.
Placed in front of an inner glass envelope, the perforated wall blocks direct sunlight before it reaches the rooms and leaves a ventilated space between the two layers. Air can pass through the staggered joints, while the bricks break the tropical glow into smaller pieces of light. Vines spill from the balcony behind the screen, and after sunset, the facade reads as a field of illuminated openings.
images © Paul Fan
light and air move through the narrow floor plan
Inside, his oblong footprint NAQ ArchitectureHis house opens around a tall void covered by a glazed roof to draw daylight into the center of the design. Rust-colored stairs rise along its edge and connect upper-level corridors bordered by simple chain-link railings. The open section lets the views pass between the floors and keeps the traffic exposed to the air moving through the house.
On the ground floor, the kitchen and dining room lead to a living room with sliding glass doors that open onto a planted terrace. White walls reflect elevated light, while terracotta-toned surfaces bring the palette of outdoor materials indoors. The furniture remains low and sparse, leaving the long view of the house largely open.
recycled terracotta bricks form a porous outer layer on the street facade
the facade as an occupied threshold
Behind the street elevation, the brickwork creates deep outdoor rooms between the screen and the glass interior. A wide upper balcony gains shade from the surrounding wall, while a lower terrace is enclosed by perforated brick and metal mesh. These spaces give the family contact with moist air without exposing the rooms directly to the strongest sun.
Throughout the day, sunlight streams through the rotating bricks and casts changing grids on the patio floor and interior walls. The screen gives the depth of the facade at close range, where individual units shift between solid areas and open joints. Its environmental role remains visible because the shade and the breeze are felt from the spaces directly behind it.
a deep balcony sits behind the screen under a solid brick frame
a weekend shaped by tropical conditions
The house was commissioned by owners based in Ho Chi Minh City and serves as a place for family weekends in Vĩnh Long. NAQ Architecture gives much of the interior volume to communal rooms and open circulation, while the upper level spaces remain visually connected through the central void. Planting occurs along the facade and inside the terraces, extending the climate strategy to spaces where the family can sit outside under cover.
In a compact urban type, Vĩnh Long House uses a small set of passive movements with immediate spatial effects. The double-brick skin shades the glazing, while the open section helps daylight and air reach deeper into the floor plan. Its strongest concept remains visible from the street: the facade filters the climate before it reaches the rooms, turning a familiar local material into the main environmental device of the house.
vines fall along the upper opening and soften the geometric facade
Patterned brick shades the lower terrace while the air passes through the wall
