SPACE August 2025 (No. 693)
‘The moment you step through the door, you’re met with a story—crafted by the atmosphere and space left behind by a host with an exceptional eye for detail.’
Z_Lab is committed to designing narratives where a work of architecture is completed through experience – situated between the everyday and the extraordinary – primarily through the medium of stays. Over the past ten years, their work has played a significant role in establishing the stay as an independent genre with its own place in the market. Reflecting on the spaces they have created mainly in Jeju, SPACE spoke with them about the development, evolution, and future of the stay. Editor
Blind Whale (2014) consists of two time‑worn stone houses that were refurbished to become one ‘stay’. To retain each house’s unique atmosphere, the exterior was left virtually untouched and only the roof was replaced. ©Kim Jaekyeong
Bang Yukyung (Bang): Z_Lab started as a design studio in 2014 and has grown over the past ten years by designing stays, cafés, and more in Jeju. I heard you’ve created over 50 spaces in Jeju. How did you come to base your practice in Jeju?
Noh Kyungrok (Noh): We didn’t have any particular ties or personal connection to Jeju. In 2013, we worked on a project called TORi Cottage (IKLAMP) at the request of Lee Changgil (leader, Gaehangro Project), and through that, the three of us – myself, Lee Sangmuk, and Park Junghyun, who were college seniors and juniors – came together to found Z_Lab in January 2014. As the spaces we created in Jeju began to attract attention, we were able to continue working there. Jeju is not only one of Korea’s top tourist destinations but also a place with a very strong local character, which makes it commercially unique. Naturally, in the process of forming our own design language and identity, we were heavily influenced by Jeju.
Bang: Kang Haecheon, who now leads the architectural division, joined Z_Lab in 2018, when the firm had established its position in the industry. What was the...
