CHICKEN HOUSE

An elderly couple wanted to leave the city for the countryside and keep a few chickens, something to look after, feed and watch each day. They also hoped their children and grandchildren would visit often, and that the young ones would have somewhere to play. Tropical Space built them this chicken house in 2017, on their land in My Hanh, Tay Ninh (formerly Duc Hoa, Long An).

The architects did not want to shut the birds into small cages. Chickens need room and air, water, and places to lay and hatch eggs. They scratch at the soil, peck at leaves and chase one another. The aim was a large, safe enclosure where chickens and ducks could form a small community of their own.

The structure is a light steel frame wrapped in metal mesh, with cement board for the solid parts. It measures 2 by 10 metres and stands 2 metres high, a size children can walk into and play in. The mesh sets a safe boundary for the birds while keeping the view open, so inside and outside stay in constant contact.

Chickens like to roost high up when it gets dark, so the architects added height. Small boxes hang from the frame at different levels, linked by light stairs, giving the birds more to climb and explore. The space under the boxes, together with the shade of nearby trees, keeps the ground out of the sun. Shallow round pools sunk into the floor give the ducks water.

Around the coop the owners grow vegetables, and luffa vines are planted to climb over the roof and shade it. When the coop is washed down, water and waste drain to both sides of the garden and feed the beds.

For the architects the project was mostly about children growing up in big cities, where adults are always in a hurry and a day is school, homework and games. Finishing it, they wrote, reminded them that adults also need to loosen up now and then.