Architect: UNSANGDONG Architects Cooperation
Location: 449, Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Program: Office, Shop
Site area: 348.50m2
Building area: 196.56m2
Gross floor area: 2,787.11m2
Building to land ratio: 56.40%
Gross floor ratio: 799.74%
Completion Year: 2018
Photographer: Sergio Pirrone
About UNSANGDONG Architects Cooperation
An architect group UNSANGDONG Architects Cooperation has formed with Professor Yoongyoo Jang and Chief manager Changhoon Shin as a key person, and they are an architect group who experiments with conceptual architecture to manifest the potential of architecture as cultural contents diversely.
Through communication in diverse fields like an architect group UNSANGDONG, gallery Jungmiso, UNSANGDONG publication, UNSANGDONG art, YOOEDI interior, etc., they tried to realize the architectural depth. Also, they’re doing various exhibitions and planning. Via UNSANGDONG, they are working as a leading architect who leads architectural experiments of Korean architecture.
In recent 2018, they awarded a Grand Prize of Seoul Architecture Award with ‘Sopoonggil Community’, and became a Winner of the Public Space Part in The Plan Award, which is a famous architecture magazine, with ‘Hannae Forest of Wisdom’, and at the same year, they awarded a Top Prize of the Seoul Architecture award and Completion Building part of the Korea Architecture Culture Award.
In 2017, ‘Hannae Forest of Wisdom’, has awarded the Korea Space Culture Award Street-Yard Prize(Minister Prize of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), Best 7 Architecture of the year(Korean Institute of Architects Prize), and a Grand Prize of Korea Public Architecture Award together. Besides, they have Awarded various prizes with Bogojae, University of Seoul landscape complex, Gallery YEH, etc., and were invited to guest lectures home and abroad, and they are expecting their activity as a worldwide architect.
The Bambu Tower, which is the headquarters of GL associates begins with a concept that combines ‘Space, Designer, Desired’, a space desired by designers’, within the small site between the other buildings that are compactly arranged in the middle of Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, the most urban place in Seoul.
At present, there are countless large and small offices and co-working spaces in Gangnam-gu. We aimed to create a building that can exert a good influence on users by differentiating it from these buildings. Focusing on the placeness of various people gathering here, we thought deeply about forming a space by deriving the keyword ‘preference’. Bamboo Tower is a result of these thoughts and is a shared office where the Work Space, the occupant’s office, and Bamboo Collection, various convenience and cultural facilities, coexist.
The spaces provided on each floor are flexible spaces that have considered the various work styles and lifestyles of the users. The collaborative space, which is an open-type office for individuals and companies as well as a space for culture and art where various lifestyles gather, is a space of collaboration and exchange where people share the office and work together while freely sharing information, technology, ideas, etc. A vertically extended seminar space, a multipurpose space that can change according to the needs, and a resting space that helps ventilation and natural light and is a transfer space between the restaurant and collaborative space are included.
Each floor contains various programs, and by providing a differentiated space where the various work styles and lifestyles can be shared on a number of specific floors, Bamboo Tower’s unique special shared office is presented. This was also expressed in the building’s design to allow the characteristics of each space to be seen on the exterior. The elevation, which is surrounded in a way that resembles a lump within the city center being rhythmically banded, shines as the light of the interior space is emitted to the outside. It projects the space like a staircase that ascends above the clouds. In the middle, a small bamboo forest can be found.
As for the programs on each floor, the Bamboo Studio on the second basement floor is a creative space where each user can create their own content or creative activities such as workshops or seminars can be held. The Bamboo Theater and Gallery on the first basement floor are spaces optimized for various cultural activities and community activities such as viewing the works of various outside artists and rising artists using Bamboo Space, screening videos, and holding lectures. The cafe on the first floor is a space with a unique atmosphere created by Bamboo Tower that can differentiate itself from other cafes, and it is a space of relaxation that provides users with convenience and a place to rest.
The second to twelfth floors are general office spaces that provide office spaces for various businesses and individuals. The Bamboo Space on the 13th floor consists of meeting rooms and open desks, and the open desks provide a virtual office in the business-centered Samseong-dong for individuals and businesses that need business addresses. Lastly, the 14th to 16th floors were planned as the office building of GL.
