Between the Old Building and the New: Old Barnyard

SPACE August 2026 (No. 705) 

Every project has its own story. At IDR Architects, those stories are never brief. This is true of this small brunch café, now known as the Old Barnyard. When the client first came to our office, the building was still a teahouse named ‘The Road to the Mountain Temple’. Located on the path leading to Cheonggyesa Temple, it was the sort of aging establishment that seemed just as likely to serve traditional Ssanghwa tea as coffee. Its façade was clad with rough, rounded logs stacked one upon another like a forest lodge, interrupted rather awkwardly by large panes of blue-tinted glass.

Yet, much like going on a blind date only to become more interested in the friend who made the introduction, we found ourselves far more captivated by the building next door than by the one standing on the project site. It was an old livestock barn which exuded an effortless confidence. Rough natural stone had been laid across its exterior, punctuated by generously sized windows set at irregular intervals. Beneath them, the openings once used to remove animal waste still remained. The terrace, overgrown with wisteria vines and furnished with mismatched tables and plastic chairs, looked untidy, yet we immediately recognised the promise of the building.

In a way, it was fortunate that we admired the neighbouring building more than the one destined to be demolished for our new design. Although the new building was the primary commission, the renovation of the old barn also fell within our scope. Once work began, however, Korea’s stringent regulations governing major renovations  presented an insurmountable obstacle. Repairing the aging lightweight timber truss roof would first have required seismic reinforcement of the existing concrete block structure. It felt rather like being told that, instead of receiving a filling, one had to undergo a full dental implant—or do nothing at all. The dream of properly restoring the building had to be abandoned. Even so, the old barn remained the conceptual centre of the project. It sparked the initial ideas, guided the design direction, and ultimately completed the landscape.

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The project is located within a Green Belt, where new construction is, in principle, prohibited. The par...