SPACE August 2026 (No. 705)
Façade module process
Over 130 years of the site’s history and five decades of architectural time, the site was the Ministry of Finance of the Korean Empire, later becoming the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (SPO), and now serves as a civic building. Rather than simply renewing the exterior, the project began by reinterpreting time, memory, and a sense of publicness through the building’s façade. The diagonal geometry, derived from the diamond pattern on the existing façade, preserves traces of the past while establishing a new rhythm. Four patterns of Pocheon granite, the project’s primary material, create brightness and introduce variation. On the eastern stair tower, aluminium sheets provide a material contrast to the granite façade, expressing both the building’s historical legacy and its future.
Elevation design
Based on analyses of solar exposure and shadows cast by surrounding buildings, the south and west elevations combine Pocheon granite with BIPV panels, while the north and east elevations retain the material character of stone. Five BIPV colour variations inspired by Dancheong were developed, giving the patterned façade its distinctive identity. The renewed envelope ultimately proposes a new public landscape that connects the city with energy output.
Solar access diagram
You can see more information on the SPACE No. August (2026).
Architect
ON Architectural Design Partners (Park Hyunjin)
Design team
Cho Hun, Park Sanghwa
Location
Seosomun Building 1, 37 Seosomun-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea
Programme
office
Site area
25,420.3㎡
Building area
1,326.14㎡
Gross floor area
21,218.45㎡
Building scope
B2, 15F
Building to land ratio
5.22%
Floor area ratio
73.56%
Exterior finishing
Pocheon granite, BIPV panel
Structural engineer
JEONUGUJO CO., LTD.
Construction
Jireh B&D Co., Ltd.
Design period
May ‒ Sep. 2020
Construction period
Mar. ‒ Dec. 2021
Client
Seoul Metropolitan Government
Park Hyunjin
Park Hyunjin holds a M.Arch from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL) and a Master’s degree from Hanyang University, following her undergraduate studies at Dong-A University. After working at SPACE Group and SUNJIN Engineering & Architecture, she founded ON Architectural Design Partners in 2006. She has taught design as an Adjunct Professor at Korea National University of Transportation and Hongik University for 14 years, served as a Public Architect for Seoul and Gwangju, and led public architecture and urban regeneration projects as a Executive Director of the Seoul Architecture Forum. She was invited as a representative to the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne in France, and has received awards including at the Korean Remodeling Architecture Competition, the Korea Space Culture Award, the Korea Land Competition, and the Seoul Architecture Award.
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