Ho Chi Minh City-based studio Story Architecture unveils ‘House 3.5 x 17,’ a sun-drenched family home in the Vietnam city’s District 7. Designed for a couple and their two sons, the dwelling seeks to balance individual pursuits with shared family moments. Recognizing the client’s transition to a home-based career, the architects prioritized relaxation and connection beyond the home office. However, the limited plot size of 59.5 square meters presented a significant challenge. Story Architecture needed ingenuity to incorporate the desired elements: a swimming pool, elevator, car parking, three en-suite bedrooms, and inviting living areas.
Story Architecture strategically organizes the functions of the home to overcome the constraints of its compact site in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The ground floor prioritizes practicality with car and motorbike parking. The living area integrates with a worship space, with a skylight bathing the prayer area in natural light. The stairs and elevator are located at the rear of the house to maximize usable space on each floor. The kitchen and dining area is found along a mezzanine which overlooks the ground level and entrance. The second, third, and fourth floors each house a bedroom with a private bathroom with glass walls. Each bedroom opens onto a balcony, each featuring potted plants and unique cut-outs to disrupt the facade and allow for communication between family members on different levels.
Story Architecture unveils ‘House 3.5 x 17’ in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
the light-filtering facade
The back of the staircase features a screen of wind encaustic tiles, a unique design element common in Vietnam, which Story Architecture incorporates to ensure natural ventilation while offering protection from rain. Glass panels are thoughtfully integrated which allow sunlight to illuminate the space and create ‘windows’ looking up towards the sky. The facade’s atrium walls showcase a sustainable touch — reclaimed bricks salvaged from old houses. These bricks, carefully cut into thin slices, are re-tiled onto the new house. The remaining walls are finished with gray cement, while dark wood paneling infuses the interiors with a rustic and natural character. The warm, earthy tones extend to the flooring and interior elements, contributing to the house’s intimate and inviting atmosphere.
the house is designed as a relaxing retreat in the city for a family of four the living room integrates a worship space, with a skylight for natural light the kitchen and dining areas are located on the mezzanine, offering a view of the entrance
Including tight living areas, kitchens wedged into corridors and interiors in skinny Japanese houses, this lookbook features 10 homes that make clever use of narrow spaces.
Projects on constricted urban sites or working within historical buildings often must contend with long-and-narrow interior layouts.
Here are 10 examples of interiors where narrow spaces have been utilised to their full potential thanks to intelligent design.
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring mezzanine bedrooms, creative built-in furniture and homes that make a highlight of their corridors.
Photo by Sobajima, Toshihiro
1.8m Width House, Japan, by YUUA Architects & Associates
As its name suggests, the rooms in this house in central Tokyo are just 1.8 metres wide, so Japanese studio YUUA Architects & Associates had to plan the interior with meticulous care.
They used split-level floors to create natural partitions between different spaces, with a kitchen and dining area lined up along a single wall, while a dark colour scheme is intended to provide “a sense of depth”.
Find out more about 1.8m Width House ›
Photo by by Mariela Apollonio
Horta Nord townhouse, Spain, by DG Arquitecto Valencia
DG Arquitecto Valencia sneaked a kitchen into a passageway in this Valencian townhouse as part of a renovation project for a young family.
White floor tiles and downlighting hanging from the high ceiling help the space maintain a sense of generous scale despite the narrow proportions.
Find out more about this Horta Nord townhouse ›
Photo by Colin Miller
196 Orchard apartment, USA, by Alex P White
American designer Alex P White created a model unit for a high-end condominium building in Manhattan’s Lower East Side characterised by exposed calming concrete ceilings, grey plaster walls and neutral-toned decor.
In the narrow living room, a mix of shapes and textures combine with built-in furniture to provide added visual depth, from a series of ivory wall hangings by Los Angeles artist Mary Little to a large walnut shelving unit designed by White and a cardboard chair by Frank Gehry.
Find out more about this 196 Orchard apartment ›
Photography is by Lorenzo Zandri
Notting Hill maisonette, UK, by Francesco Pierazzi Architects
A petite plywood study space was nestled into a hallway in this London maisonette overhauled by Francesco Pierazzi Architects.
To emphasise the home’s sense of height, the studio placed floor-to-ceiling doorways in all of its narrower rooms and left the brick shell exposed, offset by dark flooring.
Find out more about this Notting Hill maisonette ›
Photo by Texture on Texture
Seochon micro guesthouse, South Korea, by Z_Lab
Z_Lab’s serene interiors for this tiny guesthouse tucked down an alleyway in northern Seoul occupy a former traditional Korean home, otherwise known as a hanok.
In the main space, long and rectilinear, different functions are lined up from a cosy reading area on a timber bench to a lengthy walnut table for enjoying tea that sits directly beside a sunken water bath.
Find out more about this Seochan micro guesthouse ›
Photo by Eric Petschek
West Chelsea Apartment, USA, by BoND
This long and narrow apartment in New York’s Chelsea neighbourhood was overhauled by architecture studio BoND, which replaced partition walls with glass doors to allow more light to reach the middle section while also “celebrating the apartment’s elongated proportions and maximising the illusion of depth”.
All utilities, including kitchen and bathroom fixtures, were moved to one wall to leave the other free for displaying art, while the direction of the floorboards and linear lighting fixtures help to emphasise the length of the interior.
Find out more about West Chelsea Apartment ›
Photo by Itay Benit
Bauhaus Tel Aviv apartment, Israel, by Amir Navon and Maayan Zusman
A “safe room” was turned into a snug spare bedroom as part of a refurbishment of this Tel Aviv apartment by architect Amir Navon and interior designer Maayan Zusman, who worked alongside graduates Dana Sagive and Naama Tison Vilotsky.
To compensate for a lack of width a light-toned oak herringbone floor was paired with pale colours, while two wooden plates with holes pierced in them to support brass hooks are a space-saving storage solution.
Find out more about this Bauhaus Tel Aviv apartment ›
Photo by by Koji Fujii Nacasa and Partners
Love2 House, Japan, by Takeshi Hosaka
This Tokyo micro home designed by architect Takeshi Hosaka for himself and his wife gathers household amenities into a linear floorplan spanning just 19 square metres.
Borrowing principles from the architecture of villas in ancient Roman villas, Hosaka divided up spaces for sleeping, bathing, eating and study using seven partitions that extend out from the concrete walls.
Find out more about Love2 House ›
Photo by Ståle Eriksen
Birch and Clay Refugio, UK, by Rise Design Studio
By cutting shelving into one wall, retaining a generous window sill and subtly overlapping the chunky sink and bathtub, Rise Design Studio was able to make the most of limited lateral space in this bathroom.
The room’s proportions were chosen to match an adjacent lightwell in the remodelled London flat, while the dark blue tadelakt walls and floor contrast with a birch plywood ceiling to convey an impression of solidity.
Find out more about Birch and Clay Refugio ›
La Odette, Spain, by CRÜ
Architecture studio CRÜ was tasked with transforming this Barcelona apartment from a cramped three-bedroom home into a spacious two-bed while optimising the use of space.
In the kitchen-living area, it removed the partition walls to create an open-plan space, with large terracotta floor tiles and white-painted brick walls.
Find out more about La Odette ›
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring mezzanine bedrooms, creative built-in furniture and homes that make a highlight of their corridors.
images © Lonton Studio
