Saigon Housing Guidelines

ALM Design Studios collaborated in the development of sustainable housing prototypes outside Ho Chi Minh City at the invitation of PDI World Group.

We began the project by looking carefully at the local climate and traditional Vietnamese approaches to cooling and ventilating homes. Based on our findings, we devised housing guidelines that provided comfort in this hot climate with the least energy. Our plans included varying approaches for each level of the development: over-story and canopy levels that provide solar energy and shade; an understory level for water retention; and shaded “sky gardens” for upper-floor living, making the most of cool breezes and passive ventilation.

Created in tandem with a master plan for the district, these plans envisioned a community that was not simply in the forest, but part of it—fully integrated into the natural environment.