The hotel is located in the center of Vinh – the area happens much commercial and travel activities. It was rebuilt from the old one which has a curved surface in shape. The curved surface made the front of the building seem to occult by others. Quality of covered materials and furniture in the hotel also reduced. The running function was not suitable for use necessaries.

The task for architects to solve out first is making a brand new facade that is more exciting and easy to recognized by pedestrians. Second, the function and interior need to be reset for more effective using. Besides, getting natural wind and sunlight is also an important point to design the place while contributing interesting scenes. Last but not least, the building tends to be made up with sustainable and green materials aesthetically.

The architects of H2 Arch worked with the locals to understand the resource out there and knew that it’s so abundant in wood. So the wood product is also made with a large amount involving many joinery shops waste lots of wood slab. That made the concept of using small wooden pillars be born. We collected the wood slab, planned and rolled them into many small wooden pillars with same size combining with iron frames to set some kinds of the module.

Then we changed their axis and established a new facade outstretching the street more prominently. The wooden pillars both solve the front issue and get natural wind and sunlight for inside. We reset the function for more effective using. The wood slab was used thoroughly to form small wooden pillars to cover the ceiling, wattle wall, and interior in lobby and reception area. The space was designed friendly with simple and natural material as wood, wood pillars, and whetstone floor. Wood was saturated with cashew oil, the local resource that can protect wood from vermiculating.

We respected the main structure of the building, just changed architecture by a brick wall, iron stair and frame and cover with wood. The solution is easy to execute, economical and suitable with the new facade. We developed and made more water and tree element inside the hotel to help to design interesting views and refresh the microclimate, make the air purer. All solution in terms of tree, water, getting natural wind and sunlight contribute to saving electricity.

Architects: H2 Arch
Lead Architects: Tran Van Huynh, Nguyen Thi Xuan Hai
Photographs: Quang Dam

https://www.archdaily.com/893366/sai-gon-thuong-mai-hotel-h2-arch