Lao Cai

  • Location:
    Lao Cai, Vietnam
  • Type of Use:
    Residential
  • Year of construction:
    2024
  • Size:
    100.000 m²
  • Architects:
    1+1>2 Architects

Necessity

In September 2024, due to the impact of Typhoon Yagi, Nu Village in Bao Yen District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam, suffered a devastating flash flood: 1.6 million cubic meters of soil and rock buried 40 houses, destroyed all infrastructure, and left 60 people dead and 7 missing. In response to this situation, the Nu Village Reconstruction Project was launched with the aim of restoring the village in the shortest time possible, providing residents with a safe resettlement area to begin a new life, gradually closing the wounds of loss and moving toward a brighter future.


Affordability

The project fully funds the reconstruction of free housing for all Nu Village residents who lost their homes. The Revitalization of Nu Village Project was funded by the Vietnam Heart Fund - Vietnam Television, along with other benefactors.

Simplicity and Appropriateness

The new Nu Village is located on a hill of myrtle trees, about 2 km from its original site. The master plan respects the terrain, minimizes leveling, and protects valuable vegetation. The overall layout includes 40 stilt houses arranged into residential clusters, along with a community house, a communal yard, and a school point serving as the central nucleus. The architectural design embraces strong traditional characteristics while integrating modern construction techniques and materials to accelerate building progress, ensure durability and stability, and enhance the structures’ resilience to natural disasters.

Sufficiency and Efficiency

The project was conceived, developed, and completed in just 98 days, driven by the urgent need to help the Nu village community rebuild their lives as quickly as possible. To achieve this a prefabricated construction method was used: beams, columns, floors, and ALC wall panels were produced in the factory and assembled on site, reducing construction time while ensuring quality and visual coherence. Chosen over the wooden planks of traditional stilt houses, ALC panels offered a faster and more efficient solution. Made of autoclaved aerated concrete reinforced with corrosion-resistant steel, they are lightweight, durable, fire-resistant, and thermally insulating, while also reducing emissions and dust during construction. Their off-site fabrication and rapid on-site assembly helped lower both time and cost.

Scalability

The project aims to create a resettlement area rich in traditional identity while preserving the cultural and ecological characteristics of the region. Due to the exceptional circumstances and the urgent need to provide shelter for hundreds of residents, the architects used modern materials such as concrete, corrugated metal, steel, and prefabricated ALC panels to reduce construction time, as traditional timber stilt houses can take several months to a year to complete.

Given more time, traditional materials could also have been employed, as in previous projects such as Earth Village, Jackfruit Village, and Mushroom Village by 1+1>2 Architects. In Nu Village, however, speed was essential. Industrial and prefabricated materials were therefore prioritized for their efficiency.

In this sense, the project’s replicability does not lie only in its material palette or construction techniques, but in its broader approach: architecture as a flexible and people-centered response to disaster. Its key lesson is the need to balance urgency, culture, lifestyle, and environmental responsibility according to the specific context.

Beauty

The houses and community buildings reinterpret local Tày stilt-house architecture through broad roofs, three-bay layouts, verandas, side staircases, and details that recall traditional wooden craftsmanship. Steel trusses and wood-brown finishes create a warm atmosphere, while the 3D-embossed metal roof evokes the appearance of clay tiles. Clay tiles were not used, even though they would have been a great solution, because they are heavier, more expensive, and slower to install. Instead, the project uses lightweight, eco-friendly corrugated roofing that preserves the traditional character of the roof while reducing construction time, cost, and labor.

Unique Principles of Success

1. Fast, sustainable, ecological

At the planning level, the design responds sensitively to the site’s topography and context. It minimizes land leveling and preserves valuable vegetation within the new settlement area. Architecturally, the project pursues two key objectives: rapid construction and environmental safety. These aims are achieved through a range of carefully selected solutions, including root foundations, which are easy to construct and require less concrete and steel than conventional systems; prefabricated eco-industrial materials, such as ALC wall panels and eco-friendly corrugated iron; and five-compartment septic tanks, among others.


2. Identity and prototypical design

The design draws on local culture by reinterpreting the traditional stilt houses of the Tay people. Characteristic features such as wide, overhanging roofs, a three-compartment layout, and corridors surrounding the house are incorporated into the architectural concept. Although the building uses industrial materials, its details are carefully derived from traditional wooden stilt house construction. Elements such as the roof, truss system, beams, columns, floors, edge columns, central columns, and stairs all reference the proportions, structure, and craftsmanship of vernacular stilt houses.


3. Community participation

During the design and construction process, the architectural team organized meetings with the residents of Nu village, listened to their needs and wishes, and made adjustments so that the community truly feels empathy, understanding, and wants to stay and live in the new place. Along with that, each house is designed with a garden space so that residents can further develop and expand the space according to the needs of each household.

Limitations

Due to the urgent timeline and limited construction conditions, the project could not fully replicate a traditional Tày village. However, it presents a harmonious approach and a representative lesson in how architecture can respond swiftly to natural disasters especially in a context where people, particularly vulnerable communities, are increasingly exposed to risks from natural hazards and cultural erosion.

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