Tropical Forest Café – ป่าฝนกลางเมืองใหญ่ โดย Tayone Design Studio
- Jul 19, 2025
- 3 min read
In an era of relentless urban expansion, green spaces are becoming a rarity.
Tropical Forest Café is a beautiful answer to the urban dweller's longing for peace, freshness, and a connection with nature. This coffee shop, located in a small alley in the Tay Son area of Dong Da district in Hanoi, Vietnam, was exquisitely designed by Tayone Design Studio, a local design studio with a clear vision of harmoniously blending nature with the urban lifestyle.
The Genesis of the Idea: A Small Rainforest in the Big City
The main design concept of Tropical Forest Café is to create a "tropical rainforest" in the context of a fast-paced and crowded city. It's not just a coffee shop, but a sanctuary for the mind, a place where people can escape the chaos of the big city and immerse themselves in true natural tranquility.
The shop has a usable area of about 170 square meters, which, although not very large, has been cleverly allocated, making every square inch of the shop full of interesting details, both in terms of architecture and landscape architecture.
The Design: Architecture that can grow
What makes Tropical Forest Café stand out is its use of natural materials such as softwood, exposed brick, glass, and steel in a way that harmonizes with nature. It's not just about decoration, but about "coexisting" with the flora.
A translucent glass roof allows natural light to enter the building during the day, reducing the use of electricity and allowing the indoor plants to thrive.
Modular Wooden Walls
The modular wooden walls are designed to be shelves for plants of various sizes, adding dimension to the walls and allowing for adjustments according to the season or the type of plants being displayed.
The carefully selected wooden furniture enhances the warm and friendly atmosphere.
The arrangement of plants is not merely decorative but is part of the structure and identity of the space. The use of terrariums and layered arrangements creates a sense of variety and depth.
Creative Use of Space
Tropical Forest Café is divided into several zones: an open front area to welcome the natural breeze, a central zone that emphasizes natural light through the glass ceiling, and an inner zone that offers a more private feel, suitable for working, reading, or quiet conversation.
From every corner of the shop, you can see plants, whether they are hanging plants, potted plants, or shrubs growing in various corners, making you feel as if you are in a living greenhouse.
The Connection Between People, City, and Nature
The success of Tropical
Tropical Forest Café is not just in its architectural beauty, but in the "experience" it provides to its visitors. Walking into a space filled with plants, smelling the aroma of coffee mixed with the scent of earth and leaves, hearing the gentle rustle of leaves in the wind—all of this is an experience that can be felt with all five senses.
Tayone Design Studio ได้พิสูจน์ให้เห็นว่าพื้นที่ที่ใส่ใจธรรมชาติสามารถอยู่ร่วมกับความเป็นเมืองได้อย่างกลมกลืน ไม่จำเป็นต้องแยกกันอีกต่อไป
Tropical Forest: An Inspiration for Future Design
This project has become a prime example of "green space" design in the city, which can be adapted for offices, residences, or other public spaces in the future.
Seeing a coffee shop become an "oasis in the city" reaffirms that architecture is not just the shell of a building, but a living, breathing entity that can rejuvenate both the body and mind of the people.
Architects: Tayone Design Studio
Photographs:Nguyen Thai Thach
