Located on the outskirts of Vinh Yen City, the house serves as a second home where the extended family gathers during holidays and retreats on weekends.
The owners envisioned a simple and understated home that prioritizes shared family spaces, with generous areas for children to play and a dedicated kitchen for making Banh Chung, the traditional Vietnamese square sticky rice cake.
In response to the site conditions, the architects proposed shifting the house toward the front of the plot, taking advantage of the existing level difference to connect the semi-basement directly with the rear garden. This strategy not only reduces the cost of raising the building platform, but also creates a larger garden at the back of the house - a generous outdoor space where grandparents can prepare family meals while children and grandchildren play during the summer holidays. The result offers a very different experience from the family's everyday life in Hanoi, where they are accustomed to living in a high-rise apartment.
The front facade is screened by sliding louvers, providing privacy while limiting direct exposure to the street. In contrast, the house opens almost entirely toward the rear, taking full advantage of views of the garden and the small river beyond. The garden and water also play an important role in moderating the microclimate, with moisture carried by the breeze and surrounding vegetation helping to soften the intensity of direct sunlight.
To mitigate the harsh western sun at the rear of the house, the architects introduced a double-skin facade - a second outer layer that acts as a protective screen. Built from staggered concrete blocks and interwoven with cascading Pluchea indica plants, the outer layer filters direct sunlight while creating a cooler, more relaxed atmosphere.
To reduce reliance on air conditioning, each bedroom opens onto a spacious loggia through wide doors, while additional windows connect to two small vertical voids that act as ventilation shafts, drawing air through the house.
One of the project's defining moves was to rotate the upper-floor volume 90 degrees to preserve an existing mature mango tree. Rather than removing the trees during construction, the architects retained the larger trees across the site, allowing them to weave through the open spaces and extend through the steel balconies. Outside the windows, the foliage forms a natural screen, providing privacy and creating the relaxed atmosphere of a resort.
Seen from the rear, the house appears to emerge gently among the surrounding tree canopies. The Mango Tree House reflects SLA architect's philosophy of “architecture in harmony with nature,” where the building adapts to the existing landscape rather than replacing it.
After a year of construction, the children have gained their dream “treehouse” - and are already looking forward to the next mango season, when they can pick fruit directly from the balcony.
