What is a Vietnamese Tube House?
Vietnamese tube houses, or nhà ống (literally “tube houses”), are a hallmark of urban architecture in Vietnam. These houses are narrow, typically 3–4 meters (10–13 feet) wide, but stretch deep into their plots, often 10–40 meters. Designed to maximize limited land availability, they are usually two to four floors tall for family living, with taller buildings—up to 12 floors—often used as hotels or rented apartments. Found predominantly in cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, tube houses reflect the practical and cultural adaptations of Vietnam’s densely populated urban areas.
Why are these Vietnamese houses so narrow and long?
Historical tax policies
The origins of the narrow design of Vietnamese tube houses can be traced back to the French colonial period. During this time, property taxes were calculated based on the width of a building’s facade, encouraging homeowners to construct narrow yet deep structures to minimize tax costs. Interestingly, even today, in certain parts of Vietnam, land pricing is influenced by the width of the property, making narrow plots more economical.
Cultural and practical reasons
Cultural traditions also play a significant role. Land inheritance practices often divide plots into narrow strips among family members, resulting in the proliferation of these distinctive designs. Additionally, the compact design maximizes land usage in Vietnam’s densely populated urban areas, where space is at a premium. The tube house has become a practical and cultural solution to both historical and contemporary challenges.
The design and everyday use of tube houses
Maximizing every meter
In Vietnam’s cities, land is a valuable commodity, and every meter of a plot is used for construction. Open spaces or gardens are rare, as the design prioritizes building on the entire plot. This makes tube houses a fully functional solution for urban living, where even rooftops are utilized.
Interior Layout
- Ground Floor: The ground floor often serves multiple purposes: it acts as a living room, a scooter garage at night, and sometimes even a small shop or local restaurant. A roll-up shutter or gate replaces a traditional door, creating a seamless transition between the house and the street.
- Rear Areas: The back of the ground floor houses the kitchen and, in some cases, a small dining space.
- Upper Floors: Bedrooms are stacked vertically on upper floors, accommodating extended family members. Natural light is usually limited to the front of the house, as windows on the sides are often not feasible due to proximity to neighboring buildings.
- Rooftop: Tube houses typically have flat rooftops, used creatively as laundry spaces or even small gardens with foam boxes for growing vegetables. The rooftop often replaces the garden space found in suburban homes.
Lighting and ventilation
The narrow design presents challenges for natural light and ventilation. Traditional tube houses rely on windows at the front, while newer designs incorporate strategies like skylights, internal courtyards, or light wells to bring in light and fresh air.
Family dynamics
Tube houses are designed to accommodate extended families, with multiple generations often living under one roof. This close-knit arrangement fosters strong family bonds but also requires thoughtful division of space to meet everyone’s needs.
Hotel rooms without windows
The influence of tube house design extends to hotels across Vietnam, particularly in cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang. Many hotels, regardless of price range, are built on narrow plots of land with a limited facade width, resulting in rooms that lack windows or natural light. This is especially common in hotels located in older neighborhoods, such as Hanoi’s Old Quarter, where buildings are often repurposed tube houses or follow the same architectural constraints.
What to expect as a traveler
- Urban hotels: Rooms located deeper within these buildings typically lack windows, relying on artificial lighting. Front-facing rooms or those near light wells may offer natural light, but they are not always the norm. Even higher-end hotels in urban areas can have windowless rooms due to the narrow, deep design.
- Modern solutions: Some newer hotels incorporate small skylights, light wells, or internal courtyards to improve lighting and airflow for interior rooms. However, these features are not universally implemented, especially in repurposed buildings.
- Rural accommodations: In contrast, hotels in rural destinations like Ninh Binh or Mai Chau usually offer more open layouts, larger plots, and ample natural light, as they are not confined by narrow urban plots.
