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Design Details: LAPH Cafe
- Project: LAPH Cafe (Instagram)
- Location: Hue City, Vietnam
- Size (interior): 208 square meters (2,238 square feet)
- Opened: 2024
- Architect firm: 3fconcept (Facebook)
- Firm Location: Hue City
- Lead Architect: Phan Nhat Hung
- Photography: Nguyen Dang Hieu
In Vietnamese, the term Café-Cóc (or Cà phê cóc) refers to a traditional budget-friendly coffee shop with low and easily movable furniture. It’s a place where people can quickly and conveniently drop by, order a drink, sip alone or with friends, and then go about their day.
When renovating the two lower floors of an existing house to create the LAPH Cafe in Hue City, Vietnam, the design firm 3fconcept set out to combine the humble style of Café-Cóc with a more classic and luxurious vibe, creating spaces that cater to a diverse range of customers.
The first level features the Café-Cóc style, with different levels of seating to ensure views to the street and school facing the shop.
“The seating consists of low tables and chairs, complemented by raw wooden walls and a beige color scheme, fostering a friendly and comfortable atmosphere,” 3fconcept said in a project description shared with Daily Coffee News. “In the front seating area, we placed three large trees, suspended in the air. This concept creates a hanging garden for the lower floor and provides shade for the upper floor while saving space.”
To suspend the trees, the second-floor balcony was designed with a steel structure. The columns consist of four V-shaped steel bars welded directly to I-beams, all encased in wood. The floor is constructed with a dense network of steel boxes, and the wooden planting frames are hung directly on this floor framework.
The irrigation drainage system flows through the bottom of the planting beds, runs along small pipes beside the steel beams, and then down to the ground. The bar counter uses the same material as the floor, creating continuity.
In contrast to the free and bustling atmosphere below, the second level was designed more like a library, offering a warm, quiet and enclosed space. A series of windows blending classical and modern design open up to the large green trees outside.
“The second-floor balcony is still in use, but most guests prefer to sit inside, looking out at the trees rising from below, treating the balcony area like a pavilion,” the firm stated. “This is an example of how architecture shapes behavior in ways we couldn’t have fully anticipated during the design process.”
