Terracotta Breath

Two households share a narrow plot in Son Tra, Da Nang, with a courtyard between their homes. Completed in 2024 by live out studio, Terracotta Breath places the parents’ residence at the front and their daughter’s at the rear. The courtyard gives both homes access to daylight and air while providing a shared outdoor space.

Each household has its own ground-floor living area and kitchen. At the front, the parents’ living room opens onto an entrance garden beneath a bamboo canopy. A staircase finished in clay-coloured render and timber rises beside the seating area to a ceremonial room upstairs. Its solid lower edge also accommodates storage beneath the steps.

The perforated brick facade stands in front of the ceremonial room’s glazing, with a narrow balcony between the two layers. Openings in the brickwork filter daylight and screen views from the lane. Pivoting shutters and sliding glass windows allow the occupants to adjust how much air enters the room.

In the daughter’s home, folding timber-framed windows open above a built-in bench facing the central courtyard. A folded steel staircase has a rope balustrade and leaves space for shelving and a television below. Pale walls and timber floors distinguish the upper rooms from the more strongly coloured spaces downstairs.

Brick paving carries the reddish tones of the exterior into the courtyards, while small tiles cover the kitchen splashbacks and bathroom walls. Timber doors and cabinetry sit against clay-coloured render. The corrugated roof continues the same colour range, although its thin profile contrasts with the textured brick screen beneath it.