Wondangri House / UOSarchitects

Architects: UOSarchitects / Jung ki jung
Location: 348-15, Wondangri, Toechon-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Client: Ok Jung In
Project area: 127 sqm
Project year: 2008 – 2010
Photographs: Park Wan Soon

What the client wanted

The Client asked for a bedroom for a couple, a study room for the husband where they could watch movies, two rooms for children, a living room, a kitchen, a dinning room, bathrooms, two garages and a parking lot. Most of all, they asked me to design an attic for children. The most important point was how to stabilize the land with the least cost and how to give the building the magnificent mountain view looking toward the east.

Customizing the space in accordance with seasonal changes

The client, considering their young second child and maintenance during the winter, would like to use the space differently in summer than in winter. In other words, they wanted the space to be configured to allow them to use the whole space in summer and save a part of the house during winter. Accordingly, the space for a couple and the one for family were separated vertically so that the family space could be added to the couple space. Also, family space including the living room, the kitchen and the dinning room were laid out to face south with a view to saving heating in winter and keeping a certain temperature. As for the exterior material, triple glass was used for seamless lighting and view.

Meeting a yard right outside the door

I felt like laying out a yard right outside of the living room and each personal space. I thought of a true healthy house would come into existence when they came in contact with outdoor zones upon opening the door. Hence, I installed a separate sunken on the underground floor with one side opened for lighting and ventilation. With this structure, the unstable land shape was sorted out to some extent. The roof of the underground floor could be used as a terrace on the first floor.