[Photos] A Peaceful House by the Lake in Cổ Đông, Hanoi

This family home outside Hanoi proves that it is possible to build inside nature without destroying it in the process. 

Who doesn't want to live beside a clean lake beneath fruit-bearing trees nestled in verdant ferns and grasses? But does building a home there destroy the very nature one wants to live amongst?

All too often we've seen construction sites beset with barren tree stumps, rubble-strewn fields and vegetation torn apart to make way for foundations. 1+1>2 Architects' latest project proves it doesn't have to be this way.

With the aim of impacting the surrounding ecosystem as little as possible, the team built the home beside a lake in Cổ Đông Commune, Hanoi. Elevated floors allow for natural surface water drainage, while the thatched roof not only blends in with the surrounding trees, but also helps control temperatures and reduce the building's carbon footprint.

Locally sourced concrete, adobe bricks and steel lessen the negative impacts of transportation, and a five-chamber septic tank and Wetland technology used for wastewater treatment, irrigation and sewage operate on a renewable closed-loop cycle. 

The views of the lake from the main bedroom and living room are likely enhanced by the knowledge that they didn't require the destruction of the environment. Take a look at the project below:

[Photos by Hiroyuki Oki via ArchDaily]