Development by KPF, Korea
e-architect
Building architect:
KPF
Architecture News
Songdo Convensia, Incheon, Korea
2008
KPF
photos : JaeSungE
A pivotal component in New Songdo City’s development as an international business hub, the convention center is prominently located at the southern end of Central Park, the largest green space in the 1,415-acre, master-planned community. The low-rise complex is conceptualized as a series of folded roof planes - a “landscape” that extends the natural setting of the park into the city.
The large-scale folds are segments of arcs that contain the convention center’s main programmatic elements, including exhibition halls, pre-function areas, support space, and the loading zone. Support spaces are articulated as a series of freestanding blocks, above which the curved roofs floats, like a series of upturned boat hulls. The planar areas between these hull-shaped forms are folded upward to generate a series of large, gable-like openings that push the pre-function areas outward, engaging the street and providing large, light-filled gathering spaces for convention visitors.
The boat elements, essentially large bow-trusses, form the primary structural system for the convention center and support a 144-meter-long, column-free span - a dimension unprecedented for this type of program.
photos : JaeSungE
Viewed from the street, the alternating gable and boat forms recall the jagged profile of the surrounding Korean mountain ranges rising through the clouds, a visual metaphor accentuated during the foggy days that pervade Incheon during the year. A head-house area - a long, sweeping volume that contains meeting rooms, the ballroom, and administrative spaces - mediates the relationship between the convention center and Central Park, as well as the 68-story mixed-use tower, a 30-story hotel, and a retail mall also on the convention center block.
On completion, the project will have 645,000 square feet (59,922 square meters) of exhibition space, 86,000 square feet (7,990 square meters) of ballroom space, and 49,500 square feet (4,599 square meters) of meeting and conference rooms. A program of sustainable design strategies, from low-e glazing and designated parking for electric vehicles to a gray-water system, ensures that the convention center conforms to New Songdo City’s environmental agenda.
Songdo Convention Center images / information received 130309
Songdo Convensia - Development Details:
Client: NSC (Gale International and Posco E&C)
Facility: Convention/Exhibition Center
Status: Construction Administration
Associate Architect: BAUM Architects
Size: Phase 1: 300,000 gsf (27,870 gsm); Phase 1-3: 1,200,000 gsf (111,483 gsm)
Korean Building Designs:
Seoul store I Busan World Business Centre I Gwanggyo Competition
Incheon Urban Design Competition I LG Kangnam Building
World Buildings
Comments / photos for the Songdo Convention Center Korea Architecture page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk
Songdo Convention Center Building : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt
Buildings by this architect:
ACC Tower Philadelphia
MoMA New York
Victoria Interchange
ADIA HQ
Shanghai WFC Tower
Buildings in the area:
Busan Cinema Center
Seoul building
Element House Korea
LG Electronics Korea
South Korea building
Key Links:
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Architecture Studios
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Korean Architects
Convention Centers
Korean Architecture