The Jakob Factory Saigon is an innovative and specific manufacturing space, presenting a strategically land saving project with focus elements of passive design. The 30,000 square metre site area is situated in the centre of an industrial park, 50 kilometres north of Ho Chi Minh City, the economic capitol of Vietnam.

Proposing an environmentally friendly alternative to the typically horizontally spread manufacturing buildings, the project offers a vertical densification strategy, stacking the usable zones on superimposed slats. This design avoids unnecessary ground usage negating needless land development, while offering workers outdoor spaces providing both shading and rain protection.

Taking reference from the traditional tropical architecture of the region, the design was 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.

One key feature of the project is the Green façade. Sandwiching each block, the green façade is the factory’s multitasking protagonist that not only mediates the sun and rain, but also purifies the air and helps lower the atmospheric temperature through evaporation. Deep planters made of malleable geotextile are stacked to span the height of the factory. Holding them in place is a suspended structure that hangs off a large mesh-like formation of steel cables—an adept showcase of the client’s product.

The intelligent distribution of work spaces combined with the plantation façade and completely modular interior walls provide a comfortable working space and Jakob Factory Saigon becomes the first project in Vietnam proposing near complete naturally ventilated manufacturing halls.

Furniture: Rong Phuong Bac. Lighting: paragon. Finishes: Deco Crete, AIM, Molution, Green Roofing, Jakob Rope Systems. Fittings & Fixtures: Inax, Walton.

Photography: Hiroyuki Oki, Severin Jakob