The ‘workspace’ has changed with the evolution of mankind. Now, in an era that requires a more sensitive response to rapidly changing technologies and humans place alongside them, society demands more sustainable and healthier developments in working life. Many companies choosing to build their office based on the recent rapid development of IT industry are focusing on fostering the creativity and productivity of their employees. Workspaces that reflect the changing spirit of the times demonstrate that an office building is not just a place to ‘work’ or a space that expresses a specific corporate identity. Zoetrope is a place in which creators can plan and produce YouTube content in collaboration with various experts. Content production tends to force employees spend significant periods of time in the office, both night and day. What is the role of architecture in encouraging employees to exercise their creativity, and how can it protect those who are always working on ideas? In urban architecture, which requires optimal size and higher densities in terms of regulations such as building to land ratio, floor area ratio, height limit and solar access, what is the foremost value before efficiency? Above all, the uniform structural system of a square plan with separate vertical circulation is considered most appropriate for office buildings, largely to ensure the more efficient arrangement of furniture. In designing this site, however, we placed top priority not on efficiency, but rather on the diversity of spatial experiences and the improvement of inventiveness. We tried to figure out the optimal experience that could be provided by Zoetrope as a ‘workspace’.
A Wall: Filling a Gap in Everyday Life
Zoetrope is in Class-I exclusive residential area, behind the commercial area that connects Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station. The site is permeated by the flow of a fully developed commercial district, but still retains the impression of a quiet residential area. An architectural device called a ‘wall’ was used so that the office would naturally face surrounding houses while maintaining its own boundaries. Composed of meticulously calculated proportions and range of openings in consideration of the location of the gardens, walls, and windows of adjacent buildings, the building façade acts as a barrier to protect privacy. However, it also blends with the residential area, revealing a moderately filtered daily life through the gaps, rather than covering the building completely. In addition, the concave curved façade borrowed from the shape of the tiles, which remains the main material on older houses, makes the building blend into the surrounding landscape, reducing the sense of heterogeneity in terms of form. Zoetrope’s solid wall serves as a screen that can create different shadows depending on the direction of light, and sometimes acts as a frame that reveals a differently edited landscape depending on one’s viewpoint. I hoped that the ‘boring wall’ that the employees tend to have to face during their long working hours would become a ‘wall of appreciation’, one that catches their eye when they get up from their seat to stretch or go for a cup of tea.
Stairs: Ventilation for the Eyes
It is difficult in typical office buildings to provide an outdoor space like a terrace on each floor. In Zoetrope, the parts that require vertical connection, such as the elevator and bathroom drains, have been drawn together in one place to ensure an improved use of space, and stairs indispensable to the building have been placed outside as if on a stroll. The stairs are open on both sides, giving the feeling of walking in the air when moving up and down, leading to an observatory and a wide deck at the end where people can see Seoul’s skyline. We hoped that creators who spend a long time looking at a computer screen could find time to relax free from the pressures of daily life. The place can accommodate in-house events to enhance a sense of belonging and intimacy. The act of going up and down the stairs can create natural ventilation and work between inside and outside.
Sunken Areas: A Story at Its Limit
Half of the building had to be planned to occupy underground spaces due to the road at the front of the building with a height difference of more than 3m, the restrictions imposed upon Class-I exclusive residential area of reaching beyond no more than a second floor, and the total floor area requested by the client. The main facilities, including the entrance and lobby of the building, are located in an underground space that is often avoided in terms of its environment. However, three staggered sunken areas create a pleasant and energy-efficient space with plenty of light and natural ventilation. This also secures a high and spacious space suitable for a studio. It is a space that takes advantage of underground space but does not feel like a basement. The view toward a sky from the sunken area inspires various new imaginings and new scenarios with the overlapped scene of walls and stairs that divide its unfussy boundary.
A ‘zoetrope’ is a toy that produces the illusion of motion by spinning several images within a cylinder. This building, located deep in a residential area, may appear to be indifferent from the outside, but its flexible gaze upwards and downwards along the stairs in the building and the scenes that overlap inside and outside introduce the impression of a cumulative approach to memory and sensation on the part of the creators. Based on the three elements of the walls, stairs, and the sunken areas, the experiences and scenes gathered every day when exploring the building will lead those within to complete their scenarios with their own inventions and to enjoy the large zoetrope at the end. We hope that Zoetrope will become a joyful playground for creation that provides a rich daily life to all who work here as well as an efficient working environment.
Architect
CIID (Ju Ikhyeon)
Design team
Yoo Jaejun
Location
Bongeunsa-ro 18-gil 36, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
Programme
neighbourhood living facility
Site area
423.1㎡
Building area
210.91㎡
Gross floor area
867.56㎡
Building scope
B2, 2F
Parking
6
Height
10.6m
Building to land ratio
49.84%
Floor area ratio
98.94%
Structure
RC, steel frame
Exterior finishing
color steel plate, ceramic tile, black brick
Interior finishing
color steel plate, arcylic panel
Structural engineer
SDM Structural Engineers
Mechanical and electrical engineer
Sooyang Engineering
Construction
LAWOO Construction
Design period
May 2019 – Jan. 2020
Construction period
Jan. 2020 – Apr. 2021
Cost
2.5 billion KRW
Ju Ikhyeon
Ju Ikhyeon graduated from Hongik University, and learned a range of practical skills while working for KUNWON Architects Planners Engineers and L’EAU design Co., Ltd. He founded CIID in 2017, and has since been concentrating on accommodating, coordinating and spatialising the numerous stories to be found in the city. More specifically, he is experimenting with a method by which a more practical and logical process can be diagrammed by making the relevant experts including the client actively participate in the architectural process rather than being led solely by the architects. Recently, he has touched on the idea of materialising the necessity of the social roles of buildings as a part of public design beyond the buildings under individual ownership which is based on economic logic.
