Rosemary Café is located beside Daewang Reservoir in Sangjeok-dong, Seongnam. The project consists of two buildings, each with two stories and a total floor area of approximately 285 m². Positioned between the two volumes, a central staircase orchestrates both the vertical and horizontal circulation. As its location suggests, the two buildings were separated due to legal site regulations. Originally conceived as a unified composition across two adjacent sites, the project connects four interior levels and two rooftop terraces into six continuous spatial experiences, linked organically like the intertwined strands of a DNA helix.
Each space was carefully planned to maximize exposure to the surrounding landscape, opening toward Daewang Reservoir at the front and the forested slopes of Inneung Mountain at the rear. To draw nature as deeply as possible into the architecture, the façades are articulated with gentle curves that maximize the surface area facing the views. This strategy creates pavilion-like spaces that appear to extend naturally into the landscape. The framed views, or chagyeong (borrowed scenery), are expressed through curved ceilings that seamlessly transition into sculptural columns, mirroring the building's exterior form. Together with the flowing curves of the plan, these continuous surfaces create a unified interior where walls, ceilings, and floors are perceived as a single spatial entity, uninterrupted by changes in material between inside and outside.
The exterior functions as a natural extension of the interior, with three layers of curved balconies stacked vertically to form a series of floating terraces. Located within an open natural setting rather than an urban streetscape, the architecture responds to the site's context by reflecting the flowing skyline of Daewang Reservoir, Cheonggyesan, and Inneung Mountain. A crystalline glass curtain wall evokes the transparency of water, while the layered composition of the balconies draws inspiration from mist and clouds drifting across the mountains, allowing the building to harmonize with its surrounding landscape.
From the outset, Rosemary Café was conceived as a public leisure space where visitors could experience nature through architecture. Like a traditional Korean pavilion (jeongja), the design deliberately minimizes unnecessary functional requirements, emphasizing the experience of viewing and inhabiting the landscape. Apart from the compact core containing the elevator, staircase, and restrooms, every space is conceived as an open viewing deck. Glass boundaries between interior and exterior enable the spaces to transform with changing weather and seasons, allowing visitors to experience the terraces as natural extensions of the interior.
The rooftop Cloud Deck offers panoramic views of the surrounding landscape, while a continuous curved staircase connects the six floating layers into a seamless promenade. This circulation extends beyond the building itself, linking directly to the forest trails of Inneung Mountain at the rear and integrating with Seongnam City's planned Daewang Reservoir waterfront promenade. The project ultimately transforms a walk through nature into an architectural journey, where ascending through six cloud-like layers culminates in an immersive promenade between architecture and landscape.
