Properly Breathing House with recycled ceramic bricks

In a lot of ways, buildings are like people. They come in all shapes and sizes, need an extra layer to keep warm, and they also need to breathe. Vietnamese architecture firm H&P Architects designed a building with an innovative skin of recycled ceramic bricks called Properly Breathing House. The double-skin façade creates a strong connection between the interior and the exterior, facilitates natural ventilation and promotes wellbeing and recycling.

The building is located 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) from the centre of Hanoi, in the suburban district Dong Anh. With the rapid urbanisation of the city, there is a lot of pollution and noise that inhabitants have to deal with. The Properly Breathing House helps clean the air and works with, not against, the tropical weather conditions of the region.

The outer layer of consists of playfully arranged recycled ceramic bricks of 40 by 40 centimetre (15.7 by 15.7 inch), in lighter and darker shades of reddish brown. These bricks, along with the inner duplex, purify dust and smoke, suck in fresh air and take away heat through open panels alternated with pot plants on the façade. This provides natural ventilation. Randomly arranged pot plants absorb humidity and mitigate calorific radiation. Behind the bricks is a second layer made of all-glass panels.

All these materials create a “natural sense of breathing rhythm”, which makes the building a healthier living space than what is already (being) built in Dong Anh.

Photos: Nguyen Tien Thanh (via Archdaily)