With 60% of the World’s population within 6 hours travel distance from Seoul, Korea. A district of metropolitan Seoul, Korea will be redeveloped into a global destination for culture, convention, incentive travel and events and will be the first phase of the larger development.

The project is located on the site of one of the largest wholesale produce, fish and meat wholesale markets in the Republic of Korea which will remain in place as part of this redevelopment. Phase I is located on the north region of Kyung Choon Blvd where the old produce, wholesale and fish market is situated. The dilapidated market requires a redesign that offers a new modern appeal with upgraded facilities. The new proposal introduces a novel modernized design that transforms the aged market into a mixed-use public complex that accommodates a wholesale produce market, office-tels and apartment units. As a result, the zoning is changed from a distribution market zone into a general commercial zone.

 

The site is located at the South East Quadrant of the Intersection of Highway 106, the Seoul Oegwak Sunhwan Expressway which runs parallel to the Wangsook Stream generally North and south and the Bukbo Arterial road that generally connects East and West and travels through the center of the City of Seoul. Views from the site will be very strong to the North and Northwest, the East and to the South East where the surrounding mountains and valleys and Wangsook Stream will be highly visible. The total project will be developed in 4 phases over a collective area of 122,300 SM (12.23 Hectares) with a development area of over 2,000,000 square meters. Phase 1 will be on the northern edge, a roughly triangular site of 27,500 SM (2.75 Hectares) of 550,000 square meters.

The Design Concept is based on the collaboration and symbiosis of both an urban and naturalistic approach to the exterior and a Cultural approach to the Interior. Although a single entity the complex is divided is divided up into separate buildings from the exterior to promote the idea of Urban diversity being the foundation of the City of the future. Theses separate “buildings” form a courtyard highlighted by a series of blocks designed around central atriums that slope toward the courtyard developing a whole that represents the context of the hills and valleys that surround the site with water in the center, much like how Wangsook Stream represents on a larger scale. Beneath the fountain is the grand central space designed to represents in form and material the “Jangu”, the traditional drum whose sound represents the harmony between men and women. Bridges connecting to the future phases to develop continuous development and experience for future phases 2,3 and 4.

Client: Private

Design Principal: Christopher Groesbeck

Work prior with VOA Associates Inc Executive Architect

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Situation: Seoul, Korea