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— 01 / Studio
Founded 2023
France · Caribbean · Vietnam

Sustainable architecture,
from the standpoint of the tropics.

IDVK partners with social housing operators, local authorities and public bodies on the environmental transition of the built environment — from the Caribbean to tropical Asia.

Explore our expertise → Discuss a project →
Social housing Tropical climate Bioclimatic architecture Research & development
— 02 / Services Three pillars · one practice

Three pillars, field-tested expertise.

From strategic advisory to design and applied research, IDVK works at every stage of the projects that transform tropical territories.

Pillar 01

Institutional advisory

Working alongside the actors who build and transform tropical territories

  • Owner's representative for social housing operators: programming, feasibility, project oversight
  • Strategic advisory to local authorities: housing policy, neighborhood retrofit, environmental transition of the public stock
  • Support to developers and operators: project structuring, local environmental compliance
  • Interface between institutions, technical standards and tropical field realities
We speak the language of institutions. And the language of territories.
Pillar 02

Bioclimatic design

Tropical architecture as a discipline in its own right

  • Passive tropical design: natural ventilation, solar protection, humidity management
  • High-performance envelope for seismic and cyclonic constraints
  • Geo- & bio-sourced materials adapted to tropical contexts
  • Vernacular know-how integrated into contemporary performance practice
Climate is not a constraint. It is the first material of the project.
Pillar 03

Research & Development

What the studio produces as knowledge, not as a service

  • Applied research on tropical materials: thermal, hygrometric, seismic properties
  • Comparative studies of tropical climate regimes and Caribbean → Asia method transfer
  • Reference frameworks for contexts uncovered by metropolitan codes (RE 2020, ELAN, SRU)
  • Watch and experimentation on high-performance vernacular construction
The studio produces knowledge before it produces buildings.
— 03 / Manifesto Position
“ Tropical building is not a special case
of temperate building.
It demands its own answers.
I — A methodology of its own

Tropical architecture cannot be framed as a variant of the temperate model. Thermal, hygrometric, seismic and cyclonic regimes call for a specific reading of site, material and use. Metropolitan codes — RE 2020, ELAN, SRU — give a framework, but they are not enough to describe what good building means at 28 °C and 85 % humidity, on an exposed coast. The studio works in the gap between the reference and the field.

II — Caribbean → Southeast Asia

Working simultaneously in Guadeloupe and in Vietnam is not a geographic coincidence. Both territories share a humid tropical climate, strong vernacular construction heritage, and real pressure on housing and decarbonation. What the practice learns on one site feeds the other directly. The method transfer between the two cultural zones is, for IDVK, as much a research stance as a project practice.

— 04 / Geographies 3 territories

Three geographic anchors. One shared working climate: the humid tropics, seismic and cyclonic constraints, public housing.

Working latitudes Two territories inscribed in the tropical band, linked by a shared working climate.
23.4°N — Tropic of Cancer
0° — equator
23.4°S — Tropic of Capricorn
Guadeloupe16°N · 61°W
Vietnam16°N · 108°E
→ 01
CaribbeanGuadeloupe & French Overseas
Historic core of the practice. Retrofit of the HLM stock, low-carbon new builds, integration of seismic and cyclonic constraints.
Social housingRTAA DOMHLM operatorsEco-districts
↗
→ 02
Southeast AsiaVietnam
Institutional partnerships with UN-Habitat, IBST and AFD. Tropical low-carbon construction, method transfer from the Caribbean.
UN-HabitatIBSTAFDLow carbon
↗
→ 03
FranceMainland & Overseas Departments
Owner's representative missions, strategic institutional advisory, feasibility studies for authorities and public operators.
Owner's repStrategic advisoryFeasibility
↗
— 05 / Approach 4 phases

A method in four moves.

From first meeting to post-occupancy evaluation, the studio follows a stable arc: understand before proposing, run projects close to the ground, measure to learn.

01

Diagnose the context

Climate, site, uses, construction heritage, regulatory constraints. A cross-cutting technical / institutional / cultural baseline.

02

Co-build the strategy

Framing with the client: brief, environmental ambition, governance, milestones.

03

Run the delivery

Coordination of stakeholders, material choices, local contractor integration, site supervision.

04

Measure & improve

Post-occupancy metrology, user feedback, capitalization into the studio's reference base.

— 06 / Contact Reply within 48 h

A project, a territory, an asset to evolve?

We work on focused missions or long-term advisory. First call within 48 hours.

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