SNOW 5319 Office and House / UTAA

Curated by Hana Abdel

Architects: UTAA
Area: 624 m²
Year: 2019
Photographs:Hyosook Chin
Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Bello creative, Dalimbath, Dowin, E PLUS Window, GAI international, NARIN MS, Trimble Navigation
Lead Architects: Chang Gyun Kim
Mechanical Engineering: Codam Engineering
Electrical Engineering: Codam Engineering
Constructor: Gadream

SNOW 5319 Office and House / UTAA - Exterior Photography, Windows, Facade, Handrail — © Hyosook Chin

Text description provided by the architects. SNOW 5319 is a neighborhood living facility construction built in the back alley that has stepped back from the border between the bustling Nonhyeon-dong and Cheongdam-dong. An alley with a mixture of old and newly built buildings (that are no longer maintained) is a place where diversity and congestion coexist. From bricks to stone tiles and concrete exposures, the exterior wall materials and color selection used in the building was a difficult task in this alley affecting the landscape with various exterior wall materials. Through constant meetings with the owners, the color of the exterior wall was decided as white, which can be the basis of the structure as it is, and white will serve as a milestone in the landscape of the alley.

The owner couples, who run their design company, wanted simple and concise for their building. The issue was, the direction of the new building considering the shape of the city street and the requirements of the owner, and white was proposed as the exterior wall material and overall color through many meetings with the owner. To further enhance the simplicity of white, 3mm ceramic tiles with light and thin physical properties were decided as exterior wall materials, and for some layers, aluminum expanded metal and polycarbonate, similar to the properties of white, was used.

SNOW 5319 Office and House / UTAA - Interior Photography, Facade, Handrail — Courtesy of UTAA

The owners of the five-story office who requested a detached top-floor house shown a concise and neat tendency to close most of the interior of the house in white, according to the color of the exterior of the building. The keyword ‘white’, which began from the interpretation of the street, was completed with the whole interior choices by the neat and concise couples.

While addressing Northward architectural slant line restriction for daylight and various restrictions in the residential area as maximizing the exclusive living space, the shadows of the masses on each floor were exquisitely adjusted to give the building a richer depth to the scenery of the alley. And the gaze would stay on the street. The mass on the second floor was slightly twisted towards the road to be a milestone. The space that was pushed out on each floor created by the architectural slant line restriction for daylight was transformed of an external terrace that can be used independently by the residents.

The terrace installed on all floors is referred to the healthy space that allows office workers on each floor to transfer between interior and exterior spaces and staying in the terrace allows them to feel away from work for a moment and feel urban life. In particular, the terrace on the front of the 2nd floor uses expanded metal to give a proper distance to the street, and polycarbonate as the interior light for the house on the top floor protects individual privacy as well as makes possible active communication toward the street line.