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- Architects: Seoga Architecture
- Location: Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, South Korea
- Lead Architects: Park Haesun, Oh Seunghyun
- Design Team: Kim Yoobin
- Area: 558.0 m2
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Roh Kyung
- Structure Engineer: THEKUJO (Byungsoon Park)
- Mechanical Engineer: Chunglim Technical Construction
- Electrical Engineer: Kuk-dong Munwha Engineering
- Construction: Nurim Construction Engineering
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Site
Guwol district is under a limited housing development of maximum five-household building to create a low-density residential area. Located at the corner of an intersection, the site is fully exposed to the main roads. Thus the site is assured of a high commercial value, however, we had to seek for a key strategy to provide a cozy living environment away from the two exposed sides facing the busy roads.
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Site Plan
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Five households
As Guwol is a neighborhood full of young families, we planned the size of each house accordingly. The main challenge was to distribute the whole area into five individual houses. The building consists of five households; one loft, two three-bedroom apartments, and two with an attic.
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Each house differs according to the relationships with the street and level differences. The second floor would hardly have a privacy so we planned a balcony for a more secure dwelling. Spacing the bricks on the façade enables light to travel but blocks the view from the outside, functioning like a curtain.
Section
On the loft, we made sure the window was high enough to ensure the privacy. On the other hand, the 3rd floor is provided with large windows creating openness since it is already relatively private, away from the street. The top floor has an attic to complement the small living area due to the right to light regulations.
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Deep windows
The housing is surrounded by buildings of various forms and materials. The whole façade is finished with rough cement bricks with slight touch in details considering the proportion and lighting.
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The seemingly banal arrangement of windows actually gives different atmosphere from the interior and the depth of the windowsills vary from one another. One of the deepest horizontally narrow window would draw multiple shadows over changing time and seasons. And during the night time, each glowing windows would create another form of a spectacular façade.
© Roh Kyung