[Photos] A House in Sơn La Cocoons Its Residents Around a Quiet Courtyard

In many up-and-coming urban areas in Vietnam, empty plots of land are sectioned off and sold as narrow puzzle pieces that will eventually become towering tube houses facing the chaos of arterial streets. Wouldn’t it be a welcome change to wake up and face the calm of your own garden instead of traffic?

P.O.M House is a project executed by local architecture firm NNA+ in hilly Sơn La Province. “We started the project with the remaining memories of a friend's house on this land,” the architects write.

“It’s a small house of [sic] a village on the hillside.” In this memory, the land was sparsely populated and houses were few and far between, wedged between heritage trees and perched on the mountainous topography of the land.

As the community developed, houses became engulfed by surrounding projects and quickly lost access to natural light and nature.

Instead of falling prey to obfuscation from all sides, P.O.M leans into it by retreating into itself, forming a “protective barrier” around the courtyard.

The patio roof protects the inner yard from the impacts of nearby construction. Instead of simply curving down, the roof features two layers; one follows a V-shape, and one is conventional.

Both sides of the house are divided by a strip of glass windows to catch natural light, especially in the late afternoon when the sun is not as intense.

Shaded by trees and orchid trellises, the inner courtyard serves as an oasis shielding inhabitants from the outside world.

[Photos by Triệu Chiến via ArchDaily]