ASAN Warehouse / Studio Atelier Maroo

Curated by Hana Abdel

Architects: Studio Atelier Maroo
Area: 840 m²
Year: 2017
Photographs:Narsilion
Manufacturers: Gisan Corporation, Hae Won Corporation, Seki Steel Corporation, Water Industry Corporation
Engineering: Jung Engineering

Buildings, Wearing PVC PIPE - PVC PIPE SKIN (agricultural machine storage of Asan) is a building designed for the upcycling of PVC pipes that can be commonly found in the surroundings. It has incorporated waste PVC pipes into the building to increase the efficiency of transparency, natural lighting, and natural drafts. This crossover not only increases the recycling of waste but also reveals the functionality of old PVC pipes as new design elements. This project has reconciled the functions and shapes for the given circumstances and users through a PVC PIPE façade design.

Concerns for Usage, Economic Feasibility, and Health - The agricultural machine storage of Asan created a façade with approximately 300mm-400mm long PVC pipes. While looking excellent in terms of design, what mattered more was the usage and economic feasibility of the agricultural machine storage. The agricultural technology center uses agricultural machine storage to store agricultural machines and vehicles and lease them to farmers who need them.

In existing agricultural machine storage, the ventilation of the entire storage depended on a blower. It led to problems wherein the storage was difficult to ventilate with the blower alone when the agricultural machines inside the storage produced a lot of exhaust gas and dust when operators started them to deliver them to farmers. Also, exhaust gas and fine dust stuck to the external plate and engine of agricultural machines (tractor and cultivator) inside the storage, causing rust and shortening the life of the machines.

ASAN Warehouse / Studio Atelier Maroo - Interior Photography, Brick — © Narsilion

The new agricultural machine storage with a façade made of PVC pipes discharges the exhaust from the agricultural machines to the outside without the influence of a blower and quickly removes moisture due to efficient ventilation properties. With the new storage structure, the Asan Agricultural Technology Center could save 4.2 billion won on the cost of agricultural machine purchase, maintain the health of workers operating in the storage facility, and provide more pleasant working conditions.

Small Idea - It was possible to design a very unique façade unlike any existing storage facility considering the up-cycling of the waste PVC pipes that can be found in the surroundings. Usually, existing storage facilities finish their façades with steel frames and sandwich panels. Unlike them, it was possible to build the ‘agricultural machine storage of Asan’with a completely new concept as storage for keeping agricultural machines that requires no cooling or heating facilities, copes with the importance of ventilation due to the exhaust and dust produced when moving the machines in and out of the storage, and reflects an open viewpoint that breaks stereotypes about storage facilities.