Architecture outlet ArchDaily features "cafés that brought heritage back to life"
ArchDaily, one of the world's largest architecture outlets, has published a feature titled "Everyday Heritage: 10 Vietnamese Coffee Shops Reviving Small-Scale Traditional Buildings." It highlights 10 cafés reborn from small buildings once at risk of demolition, from French colonial villas and 1950s modernist houses to prewar shophouses.
The common theme is "balancing preservation and use." It shows how architects convert existing structures into contemporary café spaces while retaining as much of the original as possible. Rather than tearing buildings down, they protect them by keeping them in use. That practice is embodied in these 10 cafés.
The full list of 10 standout cafés
| Shop name | Design | Building's origin | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cocoa Project Cafe | T3 Architects | 1950s modernist house | Ho Chi Minh City |
| The Running Bean | Red5studio | Historically preserved architecture | Hanoi |
| CoCo Cha Taiwan Tea & Coffee | PT Arch Studio | A fusion of classic castle-style architecture | Central Vietnam |
| Namra Coffee | D1 Architectural Studio | 1970s wedding-dress showroom | Ho Chi Minh City |
| Okkio Duy Tan Caffe | sgnhA | French colonial semi-detached villa | Ho Chi Minh City |
| DeHue Coffee | son.studio | Traditional Hue wooden architecture | Hue |
| Tan Coffee | Son Studio | A disused factory (retaining the concrete ceiling at the front) | Southern Vietnam |
| Sipply Coffee | sgnhA | Modernist structure | Ho Chi Minh City |
| Adiuvat Coffee Roaster | A+H architect | Pre-1975 townhouse | Quy Nhon |
| Bo Bakery | Nhabe Scholae | Shophouse in Saigon's old quarter | Ho Chi Minh City |
The Cocoa Project: reconnecting with home through Mekong Delta cacao
T3 Architects renovated a 1950s modernist house in Ho Chi Minh City. Carefully stripping away the original architectural design that decades of industrial use had concealed, they brought it back to life as a space dedicated to cacao and patisserie. The signature offering is a chocolate drink made with cacao from the Mekong Delta.
Okkio Duy Tan: a cup brewed in one of the few remaining French colonial villas
Tucked down an alley on Duy Tan Street in Ho Chi Minh City sits a French colonial semi-detached villa. As demolition proceeds all around, it's put to use as a café, "one of the few genuine villas left in this district." sgnhA handled the design.
Hanoi's 3-ton book café "Tiny Revolution"
Though not among ArchDaily's top 10, there's one café worth noting in the context of Hanoi's heritage cafés. "Tiny Revolution Cafe" on Giai Phong Street in Hoang Mai district is a stunning space that shelves 3 tons of old books across roughly 1,600 square meters.
Owner Phi Lan Khoa opened it with an investment of VND 1.4 billion (about 8.2 million yen). The old books, gathered over two months, are stacked on enormous shelves surrounding the atrium. The design, with exposed brick walls and a bared ceiling structure, preserves the memory of Hanoi's apartment blocks just as it was.
| Item | Tiny Revolution Cafe |
|---|---|
| Address | 348 Giai Phong, Hoang Mai, Hanoi |
| Area | About 1,600 m2 (two floors) |
| Book collection | About 3 tons (literature, history, self-help, children's books) |
| Drink prices | 30,000-55,000 VND (about 180-320 yen) |
| Hours | 7:00～22:30 |
| Capacity | Up to about 500 people |
Reactions on social media and in the press
- "Vietnamese architects are protecting heritage through cafés. It might be more effective than the government." (ArchDaily reader comment)
- "Okkio's villa will be surrounded by buildings in a few years. You should go while you still can." (Saigoneer article)
- "The luxury of reading surrounded by 3 tons of old books. Drinks from 180 yen. This value in Hanoi is unreal." (Vietnam.vn news)
A practical guide for Japanese travelers
Since more than half of the 10 cafés are concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City,a café-hopping tour of new spots in Ho Chi Minh Cityis easy to combine with them.Cafe ApartmentThe 42 Nguyen Hue building that houses it is, in fact, a renovation of French colonial architecture.
In Hanoi,Cafe Giang's egg coffeeis a good route to pair, extending on to The Running Bean afterward.
From "demolish" to "keep using": a turning point in Vietnamese architectural preservation
In Vietnam's cities, redevelopment that tears down old buildings to put up high-rises has continued for years. But over the past few years, young architects have kept creating a model that "repurposes existing buildings as cafés to balance preservation with economic activity." ArchDaily's feature is significant for making that movement visible internationally.
Summary: a recommendation for café-hopping that lets you savor architecture
Café-hopping that lets you enjoy not just the taste of the coffee but the buildings themselves. A cacao drink in a 1950s modernist house or a specialty coffee in a French colonial villa is a flavor that exists only because of that space. Add heritage café-hopping to your plans as a new way to enjoy a trip to Vietnam.
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