Six Million Reclaimed Roof Tiles Build a Museum Near Hanoi

In an old orchard on the edge of Hanoi, a museum is built almost entirely from roof tiles that once covered village houses. Around six million reclaimed clay tiles, collected over three years, form the walls of the Đạo Mẫu Museum and Temple by Hanoi practice ARB Architects.

The project, completed in 2023 in Sóc Sơn district, won the Grand Prize of the Brick Award 26, as well as the category Sharing Public Spaces. It is dedicated to Đạo Mẫu, the Vietnamese belief system that venerates mother goddesses. Its patron and driving force is the folk artist Xuân Hinh, a performer of traditional Chèo theatre, and the museum occupies his former residence.

Tiles From Houses Lost to Urban Sprawl

The tiles came from surrounding villages and from houses that disappeared as Hanoi spread outwards. They are stacked edge-on in thin, curved layers, so the walls read as fine horizontal lines rather than brickwork. Weathered red, brown and almost black tiles sit side by side.

The architects used three different laying techniques. Together they create shifts in colour and a surface that looks woven. The walls are not decoration only: bonded with mortar and steel reinforcement, the stacked tiles form a load-bearing structure.

New Volumes Among Old Trees

The site covers about 5,000 square metres, inside a 50-year-old orchard with pine and bonsai trees. ARB Architects, led by Nguyễn Hà, kept the original small house and its gate pillars; the house now displays artefacts. New blocks for galleries, accommodation and a kitchen wrap around it, with narrow paths running between the tile walls and the tree trunks.

The use of tiles is rooted in Xuân Hinh’s memories of votive dance ceremonies. For designers, the project shows how a small, everyday building component can be reused at a scale of millions, turning a demolition stream into a structural wall with its own texture.

A Prize for Reuse

The Brick Award is organised by brick maker Wienerberger. On MaterialDistrict, reclaimed bricks and roof tiles in Kortrijk and the waste-based bricks of Design Museum Gent show other routes for clay in a second life.

Source: Brick Award, designboom