Le Van Huan Apartment

Le Van Huan Apartment is a multi-storey apartment building on a narrow urban plot in Ho Chi Minh City. Among neighbouring townhouses with closed facades, the building takes a different approach: a slender steel grid wraps the entire front, acting as a trellis for climbing plants and hanging planters, so greenery gradually covers and shades the floors behind it.

At the heart of the building is a light well that runs through every floor. Corridors, stairs and apartments all open onto this void through large glass panels, timber screens, perforated sun shades and planters spilling down from above. Light and air reach deep inside, keeping every apartment bright and well ventilated despite the narrow site.

The apartments use a warm, familiar palette of natural timber, patterned cement tiles, plaster and terrazzo. Living room, kitchen and dining table flow together as one open space, lined with long timber shelves, while bedrooms open onto small planted timber decks, like a private garden inside each home.

On the roof, a pitched tiled roof shelters a shared lounge with timber decking and planting, a quiet place to rest above the city.