Designed by OMA / Chris van Duijn, the Department Store Galleria in Gwanggyo, south of Seoul has just opened. The store’s sixth branch is located at the center of the relatively young and new urban development.
Founded in the 1970s, Galleria—Korea’s largest upscale department store franchise, inaugurated its sixth branch, The Gwanggyo store. Situated between the Suwon Gwanggyo Lake Park and the tall residential towers of the city, the project is “an intersection between nature and the urban environment”.
Taking on a stone-like envelope, emerging from the ground, the building acts as a focal point for public life in the city. In fact, the building evokes the nature of its neighboring Park, with its sculpted textured mosaic stone façade.
With a public loop deliberately designed for cultural offerings, Galleria in Gwanggyo is a place where visitors engage with architecture and culture as they shop. They leave with a unique retail experience blended with pleasant surprises after each visit.-- Chris van Duijn, OMA Partner.
Led by Chris van Duijn, Associate Ravi Kamisetti, and Project Architect Patrizia Zobernig, with local executive architect Gansam, the Gwanggyo store puts in place a public route, excavated from the stone volume, connecting the public sidewalk to a roof garden.
Contrasting with the solid stone volume, the public route is covered by a multifaceted glass façade, revealing to the passers-by, the retail and cultural activities happening within the building. To its visitors, the glass addition offers new vantage points to experience Gwanggyo. Moreover, the path, formed with a sequence of cascading terraces, creates spaces for exhibitions and performances. Merging retail and culture, city and nature, Galleria in Gwanggyo proposes a new experience and introduces an innovative element to the traditional typology of a department store.
Galleria Gwanggyo is the largest department store that Galleria has opened in ten years and will play a pivotal role as a core branch providing premium MD lineup and the best VIP facilities and services. In addition, through collaboration with world-class architect OMA, it is well received both domestically and internationally for its creative architecture that is distinct from typical department store format, which applies a new paradigm that ‘transmits light throughout the building through the Public Loop’. Galleria Gwanggyo is the most beautiful department store and is expected to become a unique landmark representing Korea and the world, providing a new inspiration to customers. -- Eun Soo Kim,Hanwha Galleria President and CEO.
Galleria in Gwanggyo
- Location: Gwanggyo, Korea
- Client: Hanwha Galleria
- Status: Completed
- Program: Retail
- Above Ground: 73,721m2
- Below Ground: 63,492m2
- Partner in Charge: Chris van Duijn
- Associate: Ravi Kamisetti
- Project leader: Patrizia Zobernig
- Concept phase: Mark Bavoso, Alan Lau, James Lee, Slobodan Radoman, Tianyu Su, John Thurtle
- Schematic design: Mark Bavoso, James Lee, John Thurtle
- Design development: Ikki Kondo, James Lee, Daan Ooievaar, Slobodan Radoman, John Thurtle
- Interior Design: Nils Axen, Simon Bastien, Tommaso Bernabo, Minjung Cho, Felicia Gambino, Nicola Ho, Meng Huang, Zhenke Jin, Richard Leung, Ioana Pricop, Junsik Oh, Calvin Yue
- Executive Architect: Gansam
- Contractor: Hanwha Engineering&Construction corp.
- Facade Consultant: VS-A
- Curtain wall consultant (smart node): Withworks
- Model Maker: Edelsmid Emile Estourgie with Yasuhito Hirose and Made by Mistake, RJ
- Model Photographer: Frans Parthesius
