HÀ NỘI — Hanoi-based architecture company H&P Architects has just won the Indo-Pacific architecture award (INDE) 2019, a prestigious award in the field, for their community project called S Space in the northern province of Hà Nam.

The design was the only winner in the Social Space category with the remark: “a tranquil open space with natural materiality” by the jury.

Over 430 entries, from 14 countries in the Indo-Pacific region, were submitted. The jury gave prizes to various winners and honorable mentions in many categories including The Building, The Multi-Residential Building, The Living Space and The Work Space. 

Suspended above is a "big cloud" consisting of lightweight roofs and mezzanine floors created by the continuous transfer of steel pipes. Photo archdaily.com

“We have been energised by the raw talent of our regional design community and humbled by the jury’s commitment and devotion to meticulously reviewing this year’s submissions,” the organisers posted on their website.

“This year’s Winners and Honourable Mentions demonstrate a new level of ingenuity and skill in producing high-quality work that is both complex in its proposition, and simply exceptional in its execution,” the site quoted the organisers as saying.

H&P Architects was established by architects Đoàn Thanh Hà and Trần Ngọc Phương in 2009 in Hà Nội. The company has won 50 international prizes.

S Space is a community space located in Đồng Văn town in Hà Nam Province, which is not far from a large and polluted industrial park in an emerging urban area with a high construction density.

The design makes use of waste (steel scaffolding pipes, rock debris and discarded rocks from trade villages and construction sites) to express the nostalgia and regret of local people at the history of the landscape, according to the company’s explanation to the jury.

The building is an open space to serve the local community, which serves as a café every day and hosts regular art and culture activities.

The design inspiration comes from the beauty of the national landscape of Kẽm Trống, situated between the two provinces of Hà Nam and Ninh Bình, where illegal rock mining is gradually turning this famous place into ruins.

As introduced on archdaily.com, the mountains act as stone walls which stand alone, intermittently connecting to one another through doors and openings to enable approach from various directions.

The outer cover is like the surface of water – green trees alternate with different elevations to regulate microclimate, create scenery and blur the outer-inner boundaries, bringing people closer to nature.

Suspended above is a "big cloud" consisting of lightweight roofs and mezzanine floors created by the continuous transfer of steel pipes together with bamboo sticks, all of which make a fragile but solid structure, in contrast to the thickness of the rock beneath.

On top of the transparent polycarbonate roofing are sprinklers to wash the roof and keep it cool on hot summer days.

Named S Space (S = Save the Stone & Scaffolding), the project aims to raise awareness of unplanned exploitation of natural resources in Việt Nam today, which have wiped out many rocks with historical and cultural values, resulting in a serious imbalance between the natural ecosystem and the human one.

S Space conveys the message: "Architecture bears responsibility for the natural and social-cultural environment".  VNS