I still remember the moment I first set foot on this site. Although it was a 5–10 minute driving distance from the city centre of Dongducheon, it was as if I had entered a different universe. Even before the density and noise of the city had fully subsided, the air seemed to change at some point. Even now, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where that line was. What is certain, however, is that beyond that moment, the sensations of the city were left behind, and a space of an entirely different order came into being. Surrounded by the forest on all sides, the site occupied a generous clearing at the heart of the woods. It felt less like a gap carved out of the forest and more of a place the forest had chosen to leave empty for itself. The sound of water running down from the surrounding channels, the sing song of birds, and grasses rustling in the wind overlapped in layers; simply standing there, enveloped by these sounds, brought an immediate sense of immersion in nature.
What we felt while first walking through the site – the sensation of going deeper as we moved inward, and the shift that occurred the moment we crossed boundaries – became an attitude that ran through the entire design process. The depth of the view, extending from the courtyard to the void, from the void to the programme, and finally back into the forest, was ultimately an architectural translation of the physical experience we had when we first arrived at the site.
The client’s...
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Architect
demo+architects (Choi Sungsik)
Design team
Park Hyungkook
Location
149, Sangpae-dong, Dongducheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
Programme
neighbourhood living facility (café), single family house (stay)
Site area
1,631㎡
Building area
324.76㎡
Gross floor area
420.07㎡
Building scope
2F
Parking
3
Height
7.32m
Building to land ratio
19.91%
Floor area ratio
25.76%
Structure
wood structure
Exterior finishing
charred timber
Interior finishing
wood, paint, stone
Structural engineer
Frame Cad, Geumna Structure Engneering
Mechanical and electrical engineer
GM EMC Engineering
Construction
TCM Construction
Design period
Apr. 2024–Apr. 2025
Construction period
Jan.–Dec. 2025
Cost
KRW 1.5 billion
Choi Sungsik
Choi Sungsik studied at Kookmin University before gaining experience in various architectural practices. He established demo+architects to pursue collaboration and collective creation across multiple disciplines grounded in architecture. Within the multilayered and overcrowded conditions of contemporary cities and architecture, and a smartphone-driven world saturated with media, he explores cities, spaces, and architecture – or things akin to them – with a critical perspective. Even if the resulting work may appear somewhat rough or incomplete, he hopes it can be read as a demo version of software or music: imperfect in its present form, yet clearly carrying new possibilities and a distinct direction for what it might become.
