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Architects: Kode Architects
- Area: 152 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Kyungsub Shin
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Lead Architects: Min-Ho Kim
A Building Resembling a Mountain - Buildings constructed in a housing development district tend to become functional buildings with a uniform spatial shape due to similar land conditions. This land demanded an active gesture to ensure a view of the mountain in front as well as to protect the family's private life. We thought of a house that could create a quiet and calm atmosphere, and open and close the scenery beyond it. We expected that a fluid courtyard in a house would act sometimes as a yard that united with surrounding nature, and other times as a tranquil yard only for its members. A house resembling a mountain... we hoped that it would be a house that contained a mountain, and intended to show the value of a symbolic volume that embodies surrounding nature, before a functional value, beyond a uniform type of detached house.
Land Analysis and Mass Process - The land, located in the housing development district of the Wirye new town near Seoul, is at the boundary between the apartment complex in the rear and the detached residential area in front. It interfaces with a two-lane road at an approximately 3m depth to the northwest, and a buffered green zone divides the land and the road, thus securing the privacy. Furthermore, because the land is located in front of the intersection between two roads, it has an open view of the mountain, but at the same time, the problem of privacy breach from adjacent roads should be taken into consideration. A couple in their 40s with an active elementary school boy decided to build a new house for the child who was forced to walk around carefully like a cat in the apartment, worrying about noise between floors, and wanted to make a memorable space for the child and his friends to play comfortably.
The owner of the building wanted two households to share the house by floor. The owner wanted to use the first floor and the basement without worrying about floor noise for themselves, and to rent the second floor and the attic. In addition, the owner requested that the first floor users be able to use the roof terrace. The two main points of this project were the interpretation of the site with clear advantages and disadvantages, and the establishment of the relationship between two households dividing into floors.
Reason for the ㄷ-Shaped Layout - We arranged a symmetrical ㄷ-shaped mass on the site with confidence, which is centrally located at the end of the road. It was a bold attempt to turn the site's bad condition into an advantage. The ㄷ-shaped mass was also a form that actively attracts nature on the other side of the road, and a device to protect the privacy from both lots. A large moving wall was placed on the front interfacing with the road to secure privacy by closing it during weekdays or while commuting for work, and to utilize the yard flexibly by opening it when necessary.
Elevation Plan-Window - After a long discussion with the owner, we decided to separate the first and second floors to secure privacy for each floor. We planned the first floor to be an open space toward the inner courtyard, and the second floor to embrace nature outside, which was intended to separate the first and second floors visually. We intended to give a new experience of visual communication between the building owner couple and the child by placing the central courtyard on the first floor of a ㄷ-shaped plane so that each room faces each other. We planned the second floor to be open to the outside so that each room would have a different landscape.
Elevation Plan-Design - We designed the elevation to emphasize the separated images on the program using the steel frames. At the same time, a single material was used and horizontal joints were emphasized as a way to look like a single lump as a whole.
Attic Resembling a Mountain - Interior Empathizing with Figurative Design of Exterior - For users who cannot experience the external space relatively, we designed the attic with different floor heights according to functional and legal issues to allow experiences of various feels of spaces indoors. This appears as various gable roofs where we can feel the changing flow resembling a mountain range from the outside, which forms the design identity of this building.
Rooftop Terrace Connected to External Stairs Leaning toward One Side - We arranged two rooftop terraces so that households on the first floor and the second floor can use their own rooftop terrace independently.
Building with Three Layers - A living room is placed at the 'ㄷ'-shaped center on the first floor, and another large window is installed at the rear side so that nature can flow visually. By placing two windows at the front and rear of the living room that is located at the coaxial line with the road, and installing a moving wall outside, we intended to create a space with diverse layers depending on opening or closing.
