SPACE August 2024 (No. 681)
Image courtesy of Seolhaeone
The Beginnings of Seolhaeone
Seolhaeone began as Golden Beach Resort, a golf club that opened in 2007. In 2017, the golf club was rebranded as Seolhaeone and expanded its business by actively collaborating with Y GROUP (CEO, Yang Jinseok) in conjunction with the construction of Yangyang International Airport Tourism Complex, which began in earnest in January 2016. The domestic resort industry has grown rapidly, particularly as golf culture became popular in Korea during the pandemic, and at the same time, differentiation strategy has emerged as an important issue due to oversupply of resort facilities. In the circumstances, Seolhaeone began to focus on potential collaborations with architects to secure their own differentiation.
Launching the new brand, Seolhaeone announced the slogan ‘Only One Resort’, emphasising exclusivity, which is linked to the resort’s holistic branding. Y GROUP, which designed Seolhaeone Mountain Stay (2018) and Seolhae Hot Spring (2019), explained that under the concept of ‘modern nature’, where nature and architecture come together, the resort should be a ‘space for deviation’ rather than a condominium-style floor plan, which is not so different from the floor plans of ordinary apartments, and cited the new spatial experience as an important aspect of its competitiveness. In fact, the resort has differentiated its space by applying a heavy timber structure to rooms and inserting unified design language such as hinoki louvers. It also attracted a great deal of attention by creating a swimming pool with direct hot spring water supply for the first time in Korea, and proposing a new breed of spatial experience known as a ‘dry hot spring’, which includes not only bathing in the hot spring but also walking along Sonamu-gil (pine path) and Haepung-gil (sea breeze path) through the entire complex in Seolhaeone. Through these various challenges and changes, various facilities have been completed in an integrated manner under the new brand.
Image courtesy of Seolhaeone / ©TIME OF BLUE
Seolhaeone Today
After the successful launch brand, Seolhaeone has recently taken another leap forward introducing new facilities in collaboration with JOHO Architecture (principal, Lee Jeonghoon, hereinafter JOHO), Gansam Architects & Partners Co., Ltd. (CEO, Kim Taijip, hereinafter Gansam): renovated Seolhaeone Clubhouse (2022) and Seolhae Byuldam (2023), housing complex built within the golf course. In 2018, Seolhaeone decided to remodel the existing Clubhouse, which needed functional improvement and circulation system reform as the golf course expanded from 27 to 45 holes. Seolhaeone commissioned JOHO to ‘realise the spatial entity’ of the brand image that Seolhaeone had built up since 2017. They requested a symbolic space for the resort, which aimed to be a multi-purpose resort through the harmonisation of Seorak and the East Sea, and the architectural reinterpretation of a garden, as its name implies. In response, JOHO reorganised the resort’s circulation system which begins at the clubhouse, while adding a drop zone with timber structure and a corridor connecting to the accommodation wing to establish the brand image as a symbolic space that meets functional and aesthetic needs.
Envisioned when developing Seolhaeone’s villa plots in 2017, Seolhae Byuldam, completed last year, is located on a hill with the best view of Seolhaeone. Typically, houses within golf courses are built on the land left after the golf course is built, but, by using natural terrain, Seolhaeone divided the land into three parts with a 20m level difference, and placed housing complex on the highest part, separating it from the golf course to prevent any possible damage or injury from golf balls. The most important consideration in the housing design was securing the views, as it was envisioned as a ‘house with a golf course as a yard’ rather than a ‘house built inside a golf course’. Views has the greatest influence on property value. But it’s not just about the view to the sea and mountains from the house. Design guidelines have been established in collaboration with architects, and regulations have been introduced to make an independent design review mandatory for design proposals for the sold plots so that the view from the golf course is not spoiled by sprawling houses and that the individual houses in the complex are unified in terms of materials and form. Now, five types of Seolhae Byuldam have been completed; Type A to C by JOHO, Type Y by Y GROUP, and Type G by Gansam. The houses with the DNA of Seolhaeone are subtly different in their roof shape and interior space layout, but all of them are open in order to be close enough to feel and breathe nature. This active collaboration with architects to ensure that the brand identity is maintained and protected throughout the resort is a key differentiator for Seolhaeone.
©Kim Yongkwan
The Future of Seolhaeone
At the time of its launch, Seolhaeone did not include CC (country club) or GC (golf club), which are typically attached to the end of golf course names. This was because they had a strong desire not to remain as a single golf course, accommodation, or resort facility, but to grow further, and this also applies to its English name, ‘Seolhaeone’. Seolhaeone is planning to introduce Seolhaesoorim (accommodations) and The Core (cultural facilities) designed by Gansam, and Seolhaeone Cliff (condominium villas, hotel, museum, and cultural facilities), masterplan by Thomas Heatherwick, under the worldview of ‘Seolhaeone Universe’. Expanding from an accommodation and leisure facility to a complex cultural facility, what vision for the future does Seolhaeone have now?
Kwon Kiyeon (vice chairman, Seolhaeone) quotes Kim Gu who said, ‘The power of culture makes us happy, and furthermore, makes others happy,’ adding, ‘I can conclude that, as a resort evolves, it will reach culture and art beyond the physical aspect. Our vision is not just to fill the resort with culture, but to make the resort itself a culture.’ Presenting a new paradigm for resorts to our contemporaries who dream of an improved work-life balance and closer coexistence with nature and relaxation; this is the future for which Seolhaeone prepares.
