Salvaged Ring Coffee House

Salvaged Ring - Coffee Shop - Nha Trang, Vietnam

Olá,

I was reading Dezeen.com the other day when I came across an article about a coffee house in
Nha Trang, Vietnam that was made of scrap wood.

As you all already know, I am a staunch advocate of eco-friendly building.  I immediately fell in love with this structure.

The Salvaged Ring is a coffee shop located along side a highway in the countryside of Nha Trang, Vietnam.  After years working, the owner, which is a local carpenter, had a big stock of scrap wood that he wished to have another life. a21studio brought these pieces of wood came to life.

Upper Level of Coffee House

The timber skeleton supports a thatched roof that spirals down from an entrance near the road to cover a lower level with seating scattered about a central garden.

Stairs leading to lower level

Lower Level and Central Garden

"The advantages of using the salvaged wood are that it saves the owner money and it gives the wood another life instead of being left useless in the warehouse." 

- Toan Nghiem, Architect

I immediately fell in love with this Coffee House, because it took me back to my time in Thailand.  It would be great to sit there having a great cup of coffee, enjoying being close to the river and having a great view of the garden.

View of Wood Frames

Traditional carpentry techniques including mortise and tenon joints were used to connect the variously sized sections of wood needed to build the frame, meaning no additional timber had to be sourced.

The palette of natural materials also included coconut leaves, used to form the thatched roof, and stones that were used to make low walls next to the entrance.

Street View - Coffee House

It is great seeing that recycling of materials to be used in construction is taking off all over the world!

- Eddy

Eco-Friendly Upholstery

Olá!

Recently, I finished my first Interior Design course - MATERIALS.  I learned so much and you should see the back of my SUV - FULL OF SAMPLES!!!!

I have decided to share some of the things that I learned in my MATERIAL class.

Eco-Friendly Upholstery

One of the topics in my course was UPHOLSTERY.  One of my main goals of becoming an Interior Designer is to incorporate as many materials that are ECO-FRIENDLY/SUSTAINABLE in my designs.

The Upholstered Sofa I Designed for my course

I fell in love with upholstery from BRENTANO FABRICS. 

"At Brentano, we have developed green criteria for our fabrics that reflect the diverse and interconnected nature of sustainability. Our eco-fabrics include our high performance and high quality eco-friendly faux leathers, as well as beautiful upholstery patterns and contract textiles -- overall displaying an uncommon variety of design and versatility available in environmentally-conscious textiles. The Brentano Green fabric label demonstrates our commitment to pursuing green mindfulness while designing textiles with beauty + performance in mind.

In order to qualify for the Brentano Green label, our fabrics must comply with green standards in at least two of the following three categories: raw material, process, and facility and social responsibility."

Brentano Fabrics

Here is the Brentano Fabrics Sample Board I created for my class.

I fell in love with this pattern as soon as I saw it! 

I will be sharing more from my Materials Course soon!

- Eddy