Yongsan Tower, Seoul Skyscraper Building Design, YIBD Project R6 Images

Yongsan Tower in Seoul by REX

Seoul Skyscraper Building, YIBD boutique residence: Business District High-Rise – design by REX, Architects

25 Jun 2017 – page updated with new images ; 17 May 2012

Yongsan Tower Building

Seoul, South Korea

Design: REX

Yongsan Business District Tower

YIBD “Project R6” is located in Yongsan Business District, alongside a series of major new buildings designed by world-famous architects.

image : Luxigon

Block R6 is a narrow parcel bounded by the planned Mountain Park—including Children’s Interactive Spray Park, Rail Road Museum, Outdoor Amphitheater, and Yongsan Station Esplanade—and the central park of the planned development Zone B3, adjacent to Hangang-ro. By placing the building to the south of Block R6, all units command great views and the building forms a gateway to YIBD from Hangang-ro.

image : Luxigon

YIBD “Project R6” is an urban boutique residence for short-term business people, young urban professionals, and foreign residents. Due to the transience of its target users and the short durations during which they are home, R6’s unit sizes are small, including 40 m², 50 m², and 60 m² residences, with the majority being 40 m².

image : Luxigon

To meet the trends of its users and compensate for its small unit size, R6 must engender a strong sense of community and its residences must be highly attractive, providing generous views, daylight, and cross-ventilation. Maximizing daylight and cross-ventilation are also paramount to providing a highly sustainable residence.

image : Luxigon

In a standard housing tower, 40 m² to 60 m² units would create poorly dimensioned and oppressive residences, offering constrained views, little daylight, and poor ventilation, and community would be limited to activities at the tower’s base.

By pulling blocks of the typical housing tower in opposing directions, the small units maintain their size, but are stretched…

images : REX

..into favorable proportions that provide views and daylight from both sides, excellent cross-ventilation, and…

…a strong sense of community through the creation of a central courtyard, roof terraces, and conversation/reading/play pods.

The stretched blocks are strategically positioned to guarantee unobstructed daylight into all units, and…

…to create adequate continuity of the building’s primary structure: a concrete-encased steel mega-brace that encircles the courtyard.

images : REX

The mega-brace supports a shelf-like matrix of walls and floor slabs that define each unit.

Into each shelf is inserted a wooden shell containing a bathroom on one side and a kitchen on the other.

A movable wall—using standard compact shelving technology—shifts within the unit to define a bedroom (adjacent to the bathroom) or a living room (adjacent to the kitchen).

The wall includes a bed, nightstands, couch, television mount, task lights, and storage.

images : REX

Exterior elevation: movable wall in bedroom….

and living room positions

Movable wall in bedroom position, looking out to Seoul

images : REX

Interior elevation: movable wall in bedroom….

and living room position

Movable wall in living room position, looking into courtyard

images : REX

Section

The resulting architecture provides views and daylight from both sides, and excellent cross-ventilation.

Community and spatial relief are further generated by conversation / reading / play pods extending into the courtyard. The pods playfully assume the varying widths of the walls behind such that no views are blocked and privacy in the units is maintained.

Plan

images : REX

Yongsan Tower – Building Information

Title: YONGSAN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DISTRICT “PROJECT R6” Seoul, Korea
CLIENT: Dreamhub Project Financing Vehicle Co., Ltd.
PROGRAM: 47,800 m² (514,500 sf) of luxury housing for short-term residents, 27,000 m² (290,600 sf) of retail, and 929 parking stalls
AREA: 115,500 m² (1,240,000 sf)
CONSTRUCTION BUDGET: Confidential
STATUS: Commenced 2011; completed Schematic Design 2012; completion expected 2016
DESIGN ARCHITECT: REX
KEY PERSONNEL: Tiago Barros, Adam Chizmar, Danny Duong, Luis Gil, Gabriel Jewell-Vitale, Seok Hun Kim, Armen Menendian, Romea Muryń, Roberto Otero, Se Yoon Park, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Lena Reeh Rasmussen, Yuan Tiauriman
EXECUTIVE ARCHITECT: Mooyoung
CONSULTANTS: Barker Mohandas, Buro Happold, Front, Level Acoustics, Magnusson Klemencic, Scape, Shen Milsom Wilke, Tillotson Design

Yongsan Tower images / information from REX

REX

Location: Yongsan, Seoul, South Korea, East Asia