Thanh Son Hill
The idea of a 'destination' is expressed through a sequence of transitional spaces — from the street, through a buffer zone, into the building and up to the terraces above. The landscape does not simply surround the building; it continues to rise, floor by floor.
Thanh Son Hill is a mixed-use building combining services and housing on a 1,055 m² site at 108 Thanh Nien, Hai Duong, its main façade facing east toward a lake and a park. The four lower floors house a café, restaurant and play area; the two floors above hold the family's living spaces — six storeys in total plus a rooftop room — making the most of the site's view and its potential for future expansion. The brief's central challenge was reconciling the high-traffic public activity of the service floors with the privacy a home requires, within a single six-storey volume on a modest plot. Rather than forming a closed commercial block, the building is oriented to become an urban "destination". The front yard connects directly with the pavement, forming a transitional zone where people can stop, meet and take part in community activities. Moving inside, visitors are led through a sequence of café, restaurant and play spaces arranged along a stepped slope. This structure extends the flow of public activity from the street into the building, creating an open and inviting feel. At the same time, the sloped space can flexibly convert into tiered seating or a stage for events and shared building activities. The building rises in a stepped, terraced structure, creating voids, gardens and multiple interwoven layers of space. As a result, the interior spaces gain access to daylight, greenery and views of the lake. On the two uppermost floors, the family's living quarters continue the terraced topography with surrounding gardens and a rooftop room, giving the feeling of living on a green hillside in the heart of the city. A system of louvred shutters and openings draws wind in from the water's surface, carrying air deep into the interior and improving the microclimate. The stair and circulation systems keep the service and residential blocks relatively separate while maintaining a continuous visual and landscape connection; this layout also allows the building to expand to the rear in future without disrupting operations. Architecture thus creates a continuous journey, connecting the city, people and nature.