Chicland Hotel uses green balconies for seaside cooling
October 20, 2021
Photo by Hiroyuki Oki
Chicland Hotel is located next to My Khe Beach in Danang, a popular tourist destination in Vietnam. It is situated on a major road along the coastline, about 100 metres away from the sea. Many buildings along this road are tall concrete blocks that lack greenery or passive cooling strategies, relying on artificial cooling to achieve thermal comfort. Hence, the main idea for Chicland Hotel was to reduce ambient temperatures by vertically filling balconies with as much greenery as possible on its modest site of only 700 square metres.
The design features a vertical façade with stacked planters on each floor, creating sky gardens and green balconies for every room. This vertical greenery system was challenging to create, since Danang’s tropical climate experiences strong amounts of sunlight and heavy rainfall throughout the year. Thus, each balcony’s position and level had to be carefully studied to select the appropriate types of plants and soils.
The facade seen from ground level. Photo by Hiroyuki Oki Stacked jutting balconies. Photo by Hiroyuki Oki The hotel features greenery on its front and side elevations. Photo by Hiroyuki Oki
These balconies allow all rooms to have garden views, whether facing towards the sea or to adjacent lands. The plants help create a microclimate by acting as the building’s ‘lungs’, allowing the indoor space to benefit from filtered air and diffused light, reducing unwanted solar heat. The green façade’s roughness aligns with the interior design, as the furniture and finishes are made from local natural materials, such as wood, stone, bamboo and rattan.
The exterior walls and planters are made of concrete, which has been chosen for its ease of maintenance while minimising the risk of water penetration, allowing the building to have a longer lifespan. Since the jutting planters and the greenery on the façade cast deep shadows that reduce heat gain, the hotel is able to conserve energy through passive cooling.
Concrete is chosen for its long lifespan, combined with planters to minimise heat gain. Photo by Hiroyuki Oki The room has views to the ocean and balcony garden. Photo by Hiroyuki Oki
PROJECT DATA
Location
Son Tra District, Danang, Vietnam
Completion Year
2019
Site Area
700 square metres
Gross Floor Area
10,500 square metres
Principal Architect
Vo Trong Nghia
Design Team
Ngo Thuy Duong; Mai Lan Chi; Takashi Niwa; Nguyen Van An
Contractor
Hicon
Mechanical & Structural Engineer
NDC Consulting
Civil & Structural Engineer
SMT Viet Nam
Client
Chic-Land
Photographs
Hiroyuki Oki
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