Story
A French villa turned workshop
In 2018, ROOM+ turned an old French villa in District 3 into a place to drink coffee and get work done — and it remains one of Saigon's longest-running laptop-friendly addresses.
An oasis in the concrete jungle — quiet enough to work, beautiful enough to stay all day.— A café regular
Work'in Saigon started from a simple observation: Saigon has plenty of beautiful cafés, but few are truly designed for people who work. In 2018, ROOM+ Design & Build converted an old French villa on Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa into a two-in-one space — a ground-floor café lined with long wooden tables set up for laptops, and a mezzanine with private seating and meeting rooms.
Materials are kept honest and raw: board-formed concrete ceilings, black industrial dome pendants, a glass bar with open wooden shelving, live-edge wood tables on steel legs, and bentwood armchairs. Light pours through tall glass walls into a landscaped courtyard — morning sun dappling the tabletops through the leaves.
The unmistakable centerpiece is the "Sài Gòn dĩ vãng / Once upon a time in Saigon" wall — dozens of archival old-Saigon photographs mounted in a large wooden frame, hung like a miniature museum. Working here, you always know where you are, and in which city.
The house culture is written in small things: strong free Wi-Fi, outlets at every table, free filtered-water refills, bamboo straws instead of plastic — and an unwritten etiquette everyone respects: keep it library-quiet. About 80% of guests are foreigners here to work, study, or meet. Peak hour is around 3 PM — come early to claim the best table.
2018 /
ROOM+ converted a French villa into a café + co-working space.
~200m² /
2 floors: ground-floor café + long tables, private mezzanine + meeting rooms.
Quiet /
Library etiquette — everyone keeps it quiet so all can focus.
Green /
Leafy courtyard, free water refill, bamboo straws.
