Thin steel-frame walls give this narrow home a lighter touch

Vietnam is home to plenty of innovative vertical residences, including this freshly renovated property with steel-bar walls that serve both as a supportive framework and decorative element.

Designed by local architecture studio Block Architects, the Lee & Tee House in Ho Chi Minh City sits on a narrow lot, with living spaces positioned between a courtyard garden at the front and a small atrium to the rear.

White-painted steel frames were added throughout the house and arranged in a consistent geometric fashion. The cubic framework was attached to existing brick walls, becoming a permeable structure that creates a lighter effect in an otherwise cramped space. A new staircase was fashioned from the same steel frames with some timber treads, which opened up circulation.

"The house appears as if it were 'sewed' with thin, white, pure thread," the studio tells Dezeen. "Although seemingly slender, they are strong and efficiently protective toward the house."

Via: Dezeen