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Architects: stof.
- Area: 93 m²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:Kim Donggyu
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Manufacturers: ZWCAD
Text description provided by the architects. Among the traditional houses inside the old alley, a Korean design studio [stof] designed a coffee showroom by reinterpreting the hanok in a modern way. Insa-dong, which is one of the most historic town in Seoul, known for galleries with long history, craftsmen as well as tea places. [Cerulean] was to use hanok, a Korean traditional house style, alongside the mood of the surroundings. [stof] tried to focus the brand on coffee and people, while the space fills the gap in between.
From the name “cerulean,” [stof] made a decision to replace ceiling with blue sky of Insa-dong, thinking that the real blue that cerulean desires of is not a blue-colored painted wall but a real sky which is changing with time and season. Therefore, those who visit "cerulean" can see the sky from any part of the cafe, from the sitting area to the yard.
The cafe is mainly divided into two zones, which are the newly built zone where baristas make coffee and the traditional hanok zone where customers can sit and drink coffee. There are only coffee scents, conversation sounds, and skylights in the new zone, a platform for entry and exit. There is even no sound of music. Stof imagined that customers would be able to watch leaves falling in autumn and snowflakes in winter while waiting for coffee though the open ceiling of the waiting area in the new zone.
The other space of traditional hanok has a long stretch of seats along with the structure of the old house, allowing customers to see the yard and the sky. This is the space where the eyes would naturally stay outside of the room by intentionally lowering the lighting level inside. A method of indirect lighting was used as a whole for natural mood of the indoor spaces. In particular, the custom-made floor stand lamp designed by [stof] is adjustable to control the direction of light. The design was inspired by traditional Korean candle holder which the direction of emitted light varies depending on the type of decor installed behind the candlesticks.
The cafe’s symbol is the cloud-shaped wall behind the barista zone. It is a reminiscence of the cloud due to the shadows created by the curves and layers of the wall under the skylight. [stof] has tried several times with 3D printer to find the fit shape. Also, the shape is based on the map of Insa-dong, so the wall not only visualizes the identity of the café but also represents the area where it is sitting in.
The yard was intentionally created to be minimal, finished with stone from floor to wall. Hanok's yard is a place where water gathers when it rains, so the floor has to be slanted. To make a flat and empty yard, all the floor drainage facilities were hidden and the deck system was used to set the flat level of the stone, which allowed stof to connect indoor and outdoor to the same finish and level.
