Vung Tau, two hours south of Ho Chi Minh City, is a rapidly expanding holiday destination and new developments are moving up the steeply raked hills to take advantage of commanding ocean views.

This project for six holiday houses attempts to combine the beauty of the landscape with a new land use. Borrowing from terraced rice paddies, the houses are tucked into man-made terraces, almost disappearing into he landscape, allowing a greater degree of privacy between dwellings. Each house occupies three levels of the terrace, separating living and sleeping areas, with each level spilling out onto its own private terrace.

Location: Vung Tau, Vietnam 10°21’20.81″N, 107°3’52.77″E
Date: 2004
Design team: Thierry Lacoste, David Stevenson
Photography / images: Lacoste+Stevenson Architects, Andrew Mackenzie