Songduong House / Atelier 12

Architect: atelier 12
Area: 320 m²
Year: 2020
Photography: Chimnon Studio
Lead Architect: Dang Duc Viet
City: Long Bien, Hanoi
Country: Vietnam

Song Duong House, designed by atelier 12 in Long Bien, Hanoi, is a riverside private residence completed in 2020 for a family of four. Positioned in a village where the Duong and Red Rivers meet, the house responds to the owners’ wish for a lifestyle centered on nature and daily care of home and garden. The plan places living and sleeping spaces toward the rear, opening to a veranda, garden, and the riverbank, while service areas follow a compact technical axis. Circulation flows through a central stair and connecting corridor. Multiple openings, including a veranda and high windows, admit filtered daylight that reveals changes across the day and year. The composition follows principles of accretion, stacking, and layering, occasionally shaped with improvisation. Conceived as a living body animated by its occupants, Song Duong House merges contemporary domestic needs with the enduring atmosphere of the riverside village, sustaining its cultural and spatial continuity amid surrounding urban change.

Natural materials are perhaps the most emotionally resonant elements for architects. With such materials, our role is simply to let their inherent beauty speak for itself and to protect that beauty from being overshadowed by artificial elements within a building.
Interview with Đặng Đức Việt of atelier 12

The Duong River, formed where the Red River divides after its long journey from the north, has shaped fertile alluvial land along its banks. At the junction of these waterways lies a modest village that, despite the spread of urban development, retains the quiet patterns of rural life. Within this setting, Song Duong House takes its place as a contemporary residence that draws on the layered history of its location. The surrounding landscape, marked by the slow rhythm of the river and the enduring presence of traditional gardens, provides more than a backdrop; it informs the spatial relationships, material sensibility, and orientation of the home. By situating the building within these cultural and environmental narratives, the design connects the family’s life to both the tangible geography of the site and the intangible heritage of the riverside community.

The layout is inward-focused, with the primary living and sleeping areas positioned toward the rear of the site, where a veranda and garden extend toward the riverbank. Service spaces, including the kitchen and bathrooms, are placed along a compact technical axis in a less favorable orientation. Circulation is organized around a central stair and connecting corridor, enabling an efficient flow between all parts of the home.

Light plays a defining role in shaping the interior experience. Openings from the veranda and elevated windows draw in daylight from multiple directions. The light is softened before it reaches the living spaces, creating an atmosphere that reflects the shifting qualities of each hour and season.

Architectural volumes and details are composed using principles of accretion, stacking, and layering. While the arrangement is deliberate, moments of improvisation introduce individuality and adaptability into the structure. The architects conceived the house as a living body, with its residents as the soul, allowing form and life to grow together over time.

Song Duong House stands as both a contemporary home and a link to its riverside context. It preserves the essence of the village while accommodating the evolving needs of its occupants, creating a lasting dialogue between tradition, environment, and modern domestic life.