Fully open. Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects
23/12/2022.
[Ho Chi Minh City] Vietnam
metalocus, ADELA BONAS
metalocus, ADELA BONAS
The architects of the Swiss firm rollimarchini architekten worked together with Vietnam-based G8A Architects to develop the design for the new construction of a factory in Saigon. The task was to develop an innovative building design that is designed for a humid tropical climate.
Since 2008 the Swiss company Jakob, which manufactures steel-rope mesh for architecture, has been operating a production plant in southern Vietnam. The industrial park − located around 50 km from Ho Chi Minh City − looks like so many others of its kind in the southeast Asian country.
Since 2008 the Swiss company Jakob, which manufactures steel-rope mesh for architecture, has been operating a production plant in southern Vietnam. The industrial park − located around 50 km from Ho Chi Minh City − looks like so many others of its kind in the southeast Asian country.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Severin Jakob
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Ground floor plan. Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects.
First floor plan. Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects.
Second floor plan. Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects.
Section. Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects.
Construction detail. Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects.
The concept proposed by rollimarchini architekten working together with G8A Architecture & Urban Planning was to develop three multi-storey structures grouped as a unit around an inner courtyard. In order to minimize energy consumption, Jakob relies on an energy-reducing construction principle of naturally ventilated rooms and green facades for the new factory building. Ropes and stainless steel nets from the company's own production are used.
One of these structures accommodates the reception area, the cafeteria with a kitchen, coatrooms and office spaces over two levels. In the second and largest building, the production zones are stacked over three storeys. The third building, which is L-shaped, is home to storage areas and a moped garage for employees.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
In order to minimize energy consumption, the architects decided in favour of a proven construction principle from tropical regions: beneath a large, sheltering roof, open, permeable façades surround the interior spaces. This ensures natural ventilation. In addition, simple fans support a constant airflow that lowers the perceived temperature in the buildings by several degrees.
This approach alone is not sufficient to provide complete heat and rain protection and was solved in a complementary way by "hanging gardens" made of planters suspended from stainless steel ropes and nets. The green walls not only shade the interior spaces and filter pollutants from the air, but they also lower the building temperature through evaporation.
Some of the spaces behind this planted curtain are completely open, such as the cafeteria. Others are delimited with added polycarbonate multi-skin sheets, and others feature ceiling-high, sliding multi-skin panels that enable the precise adjustment of the size of the opening.
One of these structures accommodates the reception area, the cafeteria with a kitchen, coatrooms and office spaces over two levels. In the second and largest building, the production zones are stacked over three storeys. The third building, which is L-shaped, is home to storage areas and a moped garage for employees.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
In order to minimize energy consumption, the architects decided in favour of a proven construction principle from tropical regions: beneath a large, sheltering roof, open, permeable façades surround the interior spaces. This ensures natural ventilation. In addition, simple fans support a constant airflow that lowers the perceived temperature in the buildings by several degrees.
This approach alone is not sufficient to provide complete heat and rain protection and was solved in a complementary way by "hanging gardens" made of planters suspended from stainless steel ropes and nets. The green walls not only shade the interior spaces and filter pollutants from the air, but they also lower the building temperature through evaporation.
Some of the spaces behind this planted curtain are completely open, such as the cafeteria. Others are delimited with added polycarbonate multi-skin sheets, and others feature ceiling-high, sliding multi-skin panels that enable the precise adjustment of the size of the opening.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Project description by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects
The Jakob Factory project offered the design partnership of rollimarchini architekten from Bern and Swiss-born G8A Architects the unique opportunity to propose a highly innovative and highly specific manufacturing space, set to become a design reference for tropical sustainable architecture.
The factory houses the specialist steel rope producers Jakob Rope Systems, a high-quality manufacturing organization, specializing in custom-made steel meshing used for scales of private to industrial usage. The partnership of organizations applied their pillar value of sustainability, both environmental and social, to all phases of the design process, from conception to execution and projected project developments.
The 30,000m² site area is placed in the centre of an industrial park 50 kilometres north of Ho Chi Minh City, the economic capital of Vietnam. Ever since Vietnam’s economic reform in 1986 the country has seen a grappling rise in national GDP, with industries and populations moving from a primarily agricultural industry to a focused industrial practice. The past ten years have seen the doubling of industrial parks constructed on the city outskirts from the North to the South of the country. With lightning speed, few regulations and priorities focused on economic gain rather than environmental impact, many of these zones have witnessed highly polluting and detrimental construction practices, transforming the previously porous land into large zones of impermeable slab development.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
Jakob Factory by rollimarchini architekten + G8A Architects. Photograph by Oki Hiroyuki.
The Jakob Factory proposal was seen as a unique opportunity for rollimarchini and G8A to propose an alternative to these detrimental practices, presenting a strategic land-saving project with focus elements of passive design. Proposing an environmentally friendly alternative to the typically horizontally spread manufacturing buildings. Jakob Factory offers an innovative vertical densification strategy, stacking the usable zones on superimposed slats. This robust design avoids unnecessary ground usage negating needless land development, while also offering workers agreeable outdoor spaces. However, the proposition necessitates the imposing facades taking on important functions; having to provide both shading and rain protection, a service previously asked from the roofing.
Taking reference from the traditional tropical architecture of the region the design has developed with a porous façade devised as a lush plantation “skin”, the suspended structure is supported by a two-layer rope network stretched from the ground to the roof. The horizontal geotextile planters not only filter rain and sun but also contribute to lowering the atmospheric temperature through evaporation, acting as air purifiers and dust particle binders.
The intelligent distribution of workspaces combined with the plantation façade and completely modular interior walls provide a comfortable working space, a pioneering initiative as Jakob Factory becomes the first project in Vietnam proposing completely naturally ventilated manufacturing halls.
More information
Architects
rollimarchini architekten, G8A Architecture & Urban Planning.
Architect In Charge.- rollimarchini, Grégoire Du Pasquier, Manuel Der Hagopian, Michael Rolli, Francesco Marchini, G8A Architects.
Architect In Charge.- rollimarchini, Grégoire Du Pasquier, Manuel Der Hagopian, Michael Rolli, Francesco Marchini, G8A Architects.
Project team
rollimarchini, Michael Rolli, Francesco Marchini Camia, Marika Steiner, Grégoire Du Pasquier, Manuel Der Hagopian, Andrea Archanco Astorga, G8A Architects. Landscape.- G8A Architects.
Collaborators
Engineering.- Jakob Rope Systems, NKC Engineering.
Project Management.- Artelia.
Project Management.- Artelia.
Contractor
Client
Area
13,000 m².
Dates
2020.
Location
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Manufacturers
DELABIE, INAX, Decocrete, Molution, Paragon, Sttel.
Photography
Miguel Rolli, Francesco Martini, Fabian Vogeli. rollimarchini architekten
rollimarchini architekten is a Bern-based architecture studio led by Miguel Rolli, Francesco Martini and Fabian Vogeli. Since 2010 they have been working regularly with partners on large-scale joint commissions, such as wahlirüefli Architekten und Raumplaner | Biel/Bienne, team k architekten | Burgdorf, Scheitlin Syfrig Architekten | Lucerne, G8A architects | Vietnam.
Manuel Der Hagopian, Grégoire Du Pasquier. G8A Architecture and Urban Planning
G8A Architecture & Urban Planning. Beginning in the year 2000, two Swiss architectural graduates; Manuel Der Hagopian and Grégoire Du Pasquier joined six friends in Geneva to form group8, which was more of an architectural collective than a formal corporate practice. The eight young architects shared their ideas, engaged in debate, and contributed to each other’s projects and the partnership quickly made a name for itself: within a few years, group8 became well-known for the intensity of its creative processes and the quality of its built projects in the Geneva region.
However, Manuel and Grégoire became aware of the increasingly global nature of architectural practice and Switzerland’s tightly regulated building codes limited their creative progress. Attracted by the entrepreneurial energy in Asia they expanded their operations and in 2007 opened a studio in Hanoi while retaining their collaborative role in the Geneva partnership. Whilst enjoying the critical acclaim that their Swiss projects were receiving they were now attracting a range of commissions in a completely new environment.
In 2009 the Hanoi studio was thrust into the limelight with the competition-winning scheme for Punggol Waterway Terraces in Singapore. Completed in 2015, the project demonstrated a commitment to both environmental sustainability and social cohesion, and it has set a benchmark for large-scale public housing in densely populated Asian cities. The same environmental and social philosophies underpin their designs throughout Asia.
Climatically, culturally, and economically, the rapidly growing cities of Asia are indeed a world away, but the two architects judiciously implement a strategy of cohesion, which embrace and resolve the contrasts between East and West. As Manuel and Grégoire repeatedly declare… “From West to East, we have an ongoing love affair.” Having bought their Swiss rationality and structural logic to Asia, they can now consider their European projects with a fresh set of ideas for pragmatic construction and socially responsible design.
The offshoot of the original practice, now known as G8A, became an independent partnership in 2014. Headed by Manuel and Grégoire with Laurence Savy and Armand Devillard as Directors, G8A now has offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, and Geneva.
However, Manuel and Grégoire became aware of the increasingly global nature of architectural practice and Switzerland’s tightly regulated building codes limited their creative progress. Attracted by the entrepreneurial energy in Asia they expanded their operations and in 2007 opened a studio in Hanoi while retaining their collaborative role in the Geneva partnership. Whilst enjoying the critical acclaim that their Swiss projects were receiving they were now attracting a range of commissions in a completely new environment.
In 2009 the Hanoi studio was thrust into the limelight with the competition-winning scheme for Punggol Waterway Terraces in Singapore. Completed in 2015, the project demonstrated a commitment to both environmental sustainability and social cohesion, and it has set a benchmark for large-scale public housing in densely populated Asian cities. The same environmental and social philosophies underpin their designs throughout Asia.
Climatically, culturally, and economically, the rapidly growing cities of Asia are indeed a world away, but the two architects judiciously implement a strategy of cohesion, which embrace and resolve the contrasts between East and West. As Manuel and Grégoire repeatedly declare… “From West to East, we have an ongoing love affair.” Having bought their Swiss rationality and structural logic to Asia, they can now consider their European projects with a fresh set of ideas for pragmatic construction and socially responsible design.
The offshoot of the original practice, now known as G8A, became an independent partnership in 2014. Headed by Manuel and Grégoire with Laurence Savy and Armand Devillard as Directors, G8A now has offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, and Geneva.
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