Project: Tree House by the Lake
Architects: H2
Location: Vietnam
Area: 1,291 sf
Year: 2022
Photographs by: Dũng Huỳnh
Tree House by the Lake, a project by H2 in Vietnam, is a nostalgic retreat inspired by childhood leaf huts built under a tree’s shade. This structure blends with nature, utilizing local “scrap” materials for minimal environmental impact. It embodies open, airy spaces where people, nature, and community harmoniously coexist. The building’s rustic charm incorporates recycled materials, connecting inhabitants with sunlight, wind, and trees. It promotes the 3R campaign for sustainability—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—demonstrating how discarded materials can be repurposed for beautiful, eco-friendly design.
More than 70 years have passed, and I still vividly remember that day, every summer, it was hot, our children would gather under the canopy of an old tree and then set up a small tent together. We call it “House” to avoid the sun and to have fun. Some cut down trees, others cut leaves to set up tents and decorate them so that they were beautiful and eye-catching. After completing the “House”, we went to find things to “settle down” in that leaf hut…
The leaf hut was our childhood and the place where we could experience interesting games and listen to music. stories that still feel like it all happened yesterday. The simple game of the hut raised our little souls in the poor countryside that day.
That’s the story the elderly family man took the time to share with us during our first visit to the project. He wishes that his grandchildren grow up and experience a wonderful childhood like he had before.
From that desire, “TREE HOUSE by THE LAKE” was formed under the trees of a perennial conch forest with beautiful water and scenery in peaceful countryside. The work is completed by us mostly with local “scrap” materials with the desire to reduce costs as well as impact the existing landscape and nature.
As you know, in order for us humans to have a comfortable and developed life like today, we also have to trade a lot from the things closest to us such as nature and the living environment, then the health and community cohesion…
Understanding that, he wishes to bring experience, connection, fun, and learning… to his dear grandchildren under the perennial conch trees, so that they can grow up in the love of nature and the envelopment of nature and plants. Because of those desires, in the project survey process, we want to keep the inherent peacefulness of this countryside. It’s not a massive building made from reinforced concrete, but instead a building in harmony with nature. From there, we find old materials, also known as “scrap”, which are dismantled from old works that we ask for or buy cheaply from around the construction site, with the expectation that when The building process won’t make too much of an impact on the existing context.
“Scrap” is the name of an expired material that is collected for recycling as (smelted to create another product) or simply thrown into the environment. No matter what the plan is, it will affect the environment and people. So instead of emitting them into the environment they have been revived in a way that has the least impact on the environment, reusing them while they are still useful.
– The building blends with nature from the use of materials to architectural solutions
– Open space helps people get close to nature, nature close to people and people close to people
With trees, water surface, and the story about the “House” of the childhood hut of the grandfather, we think of a house that relies on the nature of trees, welcoming the cool breezes from the lake, and enjoying the peace of the countryside. True to the name “TREE HOUSE by THE LAKE”, the project was brought up from the ground by us, relying on the big mother-of-pearl trees, from the use of old “scrap” materials to make the building look like this. been there for a long time. With the desire that the project does not affect the landscape and nature of the forest, it also recreates the story of the hut of the grandfather who wants to give to his grandchildren.
The building has a rustic, idyllic appearance of old materials, along with the interior and everything in the house is very simple and light, to make room for sunlight, wind, and trees to play. From the day they lived in the new house, the children showed great interest, they were like fish in the water, and they seemed to have the opportunity to arouse the instinct to explore, explore, learn, play … inherent in themself. They can freely run, jump, climb, or even lie down, crawl, and wall according to their liking…
If each of us knows how to “reuse” or “reuse” things that are considered “scrap” so that they can return to a life cycle with the least impact on the environment, the common model has contributed part in protecting the environment for ourselves. The building has an idyllic, old-fashioned appearance of the color of materials that have been tinged with time. But at the same time, it still retains the essential features of a building, which are comfort, necessary privacy, flexibility, and invitation. The natural elements of sunshine, wind, and plants are cleverly put into each interior space, in order to bring aesthetic effect while ensuring the quality of light, temperature, and air suitable for the daily needs of the family activities. But the important thing is that the overall building and spaces are in harmony with the existing context, bringing the ability to interact and connect between “human-human”, and “human with – nature” bringing the experience, and love life. At the same time, it is also the way we are educating the younger generation to know that Nature Mother always gives us the best things. Since then, we humans love and want to preserve and protect nature more.
- Implement a 3R campaign for a sustainable development environment
- LIFETIME OF MATERIAL AFTER REUSED
- Collapse
- Creative
The building is built up like a hut (tree house), raised from the ground and leaning on the big trees under the cover of the shade of the conch forest, catching the cool breeze from the lake. Keep the building always airy and cooler than the outside. Since then, the building does not need to use cooling devices such as air conditioners, and other modern equipment, the general model has helped to reduce costs and help protect the environment better. With the construction of works from steel structures, “scrap” corrugated iron so the work can be moved from place to place quite flexibly without affecting the natural environment, or when their life is over, they will be dismantled to return to the “scrap” loop and reused for another purpose and will return the inherent peace of the land as if the building did not exist. Renewing “scrap” in a way to reuse them in a way that has the least impact on the environment, has brought a new look and vitality to them. From there, we want to spread this good news to everyone. To hope that one day not far away our living environment will be better.
-H2
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