- Area: 278 m²
- Year: 2017
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Photographs:Jae Youn Kim
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Manufacturers: Byucksan, FILOBE, Ihwa Brick
Text description provided by the architects. The house was designed for a couple. The husband is a college professor at art department. The site is placed on a hillside with a sweeping view and a broad slope to the northwest, and faces a mountain to the south. It poses a particular challenge that the orientation of the house and of the main view cannot be the same.
The couple wanted a place for various social activities and events, in addition to residence, after the husband retires. To do so, they wanted a separate guest house apart from the main house, an independent study-cum-atelier for the husband, as well as a multi-purpose space that can accommodate about 20 people.
Considering the site conditions and the couple’s needs, we decided to maximize a view to the northwest and design a flexible space to accommodate various events, with a careful section planning. Using the slope, we put south-facing living quarters on the upper level, separated into a main house and a guest house. On the lower level, we designed a multi-purpose room that connects the two buildings.
The most notable spatial feature is a stepped courtyard that spans the two levels, located between the main house and the guest house. This serves as a spatial center of the house, and is the most interesting place. The courtyard connects the upper and the lower levels, and can flexibly accommodate various events. The courtyard is topped by a viewing deck that connects the main house with the guest house, serving as a scenic point of the house with a panoramic view.
As for finishing materials, dark gray bricks and zinc panels, light gray cement panels were used to create a monochromatic exterior so that the house can naturally blend into the surrounding. Inside the house, also monochromatic colors and natural tone of white birch were used to emphasize the contrast with the surrounding view seen through windows. Architectural elements of the exterior and interior of the house were linked, thereby expanding spatial scope of the house as the exterior space is perceived as an extension of the interior, and vice versa.
