Sen Village Community Center

Being approximately 20km apart from the center of Ho Chi Minh City, Sen Village is a new residential area with 2,200 houses. As a heart of this area, a community center with the capacity of 250 people is designed by using bamboo and thatch. The building has a simple umbrella-like structure which consists of 28 pure bamboo frame units. The each frame forms an arch shape, creating a large circular hall with a diameter of 22m when it gathers. The hall is used by citizens of Sen Village for various activities such as parties, banquets, exhibitions, and music performances. Periphery of the hall consists of 4-meter-wide terrace and a function volume which contains some private rooms, bathrooms, a kitchen and a small office. The thatched roof overhangs to this area and it achieves 30-meter diameter. Regardless of the shrouding shape of the roof, the interior space needs no artificial lighting for daytime uses as a skylight and open periphery provide defused daylight. The skylight also functions to discharge hot air from the top of the roof as breeze cooled by adjacent pond flows through the building. These passive design methods contribute to reducing energy consumption and keeping the building away from air conditioning use.