Vietnam's interior design scene has grown from a handful of boutique studios in HCMC and Hanoi to a national conversation spanning residential, hospitality, and commercial work. This spotlight is a curated list of designers whose portfolios are worth studying closely, whether you are sourcing inspiration, hiring, or just keeping tabs on where the local industry is heading.
How this list was curated
The criteria are simple and intentional: a portfolio with at least five completed interior projects published within the last two years, a clearly identifiable style, and evidence of community contribution (teaching, judging competitions, public talks, or open-source assets). Volume of work matters less than consistency and clarity of vision.
1. Studio An Pham (HCMC)
A studio that consistently treats residential work with the rigor usually reserved for hospitality. Their recent townhouse projects in District 2 pair tropical modernism with disciplined material palettes — limited wood tones, hand-thrown ceramics, and a strong use of indoor planting.
What to study in their portfolio
- How they handle transitions between tight indoor spaces and open courtyards.
- Use of sliding screens instead of doors to maintain visual continuity.
- How they light a room when the only natural source is a courtyard-facing window.
2. Nha La (Hanoi)
Specializes in adaptive reuse of tube houses in the Old Quarter. Their work is a masterclass in how to keep a heritage facade intact while completely reworking the interior plan. The portfolios show side-by-side before-and-after documentation that is rare and valuable.
3. AD+ Architecture (Danang)
A hybrid architecture and interiors practice known for clean-lined resort work along the central coast. Their renderings — done in-house — are a quiet argument that Vietnamese studios can produce world-class visualization without outsourcing.
4. Mamoru Design Lab (HCMC)
A Japanese-Vietnamese studio with a deliberately small project list. Each project takes 18+ months. The result is work that has aged well: materials that have patinated, owners who have added personal layers, and renders that no longer match the lived-in reality in interesting ways.
5. VTN Architects (Hanoi)
More known for public architecture, but their interior work in cultural buildings deserves study. Their handling of natural light in the Viettel Academy auditorium is a masterclass in passive daylighting at a tropical latitude.
| Studio | Base city | Primary focus | Worth following for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio An Pham | HCMC | Residential | Material discipline |
| Nha La | Hanoi | Adaptive reuse | Heritage + modern |
| AD+ Architecture | Danang | Hospitality | In-house rendering |
| Mamoru Design Lab | HCMC | Slow residential | Longevity of design |
| VTN Architects | Hanoi | Public + cultural | Passive daylighting |
Studying the work of designers who share your climate, budget range, and client expectations is more useful than studying glossy international magazines. Local context teaches you what actually works.
How to engage with the local scene
Most of these studios run open portfolio reviews once or twice a year. The best way in is a polite, specific email referencing one project in their portfolio and asking a question about it. Generic networking requests do not work — specific ones do. Several studios also judge the annual Vietnam Interior Design Award, which is the best place to see who is rising.
What this list is not
It is not exhaustive. There are dozens of strong studios across the country that did not make this cut for space reasons. The goal is to give you a starting point — five names with distinct styles worth studying in depth before branching out on your own. For more inspiration in your visualization work, browse our 3D model library built specifically for interior visualization in tropical climates.
