-
Architects: Sosu Architects
- Area: 477 m²
- Year: 2018
-
Photographs:Kyung Roh
-
Manufacturers: DAELIM BATH, Domus Tiles, Namsun, Samhan
1. Symbiosis of Work and Life
Seongsu-dong 3/1 Building is located in a narrow residential area which is hard to find in heavy industry areas. When you walk few steps away from the narrow street, you will see various types of running factories. While many factories are transferred to outskirts of the city due to capitalistic values, Seongsu-dong still provides active and health cityscape where work and life exist together without boundary.
Like Seongsu-dong’s cityscape, 3/1 Building is a place where work and life exist together. 3/1 Building is a composite building with commercial facilities in the lower floors and studio apartments in upper floors. With such composite building, different users at day time and night time can effectively share confined space in the small site.
2. Upside Down Mass
3/1 Building is located in Yeonmujang 7ga-gil, Sengsu-dong and you will see the lines of similar three-story multi-household houses with balcony on the façade. Although they are similar to other old residential areas in Seoul, Seongsu-dong is a heavy industry area with floor area ratio of up to 400%. The newly built buildings in the street have more than 7 to 8 floors and they will be stuffing the narrow street.
On the other hand, 3/1 Building has a upside down structure and the lower floor is smaller than the upper floor. Such structure vertically expands the narrow street. The smaller lower floors widen the distance between the surrounding buildings to minimize the invasion of neighbor’s privacy and to provide the relaxed scenery to people walking on the street. We hope such features of 3/1 Building would be also shared in other buildings in Seongsu-dong.
3. Memory of Seongsu-dong
When you look down at Seongsu-dong from Subway Line 2, you will notice that small and large red brick buildings are mixed in Seongsu-dong. Although 3/1 Building has a shape different from other urban contexts, 3/1 Building tries to reflect the past memory through materials and be in harmony with surrounding buildings. Although 3/1 Building uses the past material, the building considers about the new program and build bricks in a unique way. To express the co-existence of two different programs, 3/1 Building has a different density in laying brinks. The commercial areas in the lower floors are designed with double-skin curtain wall to maximize the sense of openness in relatively narrow indoor space. Also, the residential areas in the upper floors have less windows in consideration of visual interference from surrounding buildings. Such brickwork acts as a screen which allows the light to come inside the building while protecting the privacy of the neighbors.
4. Long-Lasting
The urban value is the various traces accumulated over time. We believe that Seongsu-dong is becoming famous as it provides unique atmosphere instead of seeking fanciness or convenience. 3/1 Building which will be newly built in 2018 also considered about the future time in Seongsu-dong. The materials have been selected after thorough consideration on durability and temporality while applying free structure for constantly changing urban purpose.
