A first, the client wanted a new kinder-garden on an irregular site with 5 converging roads. It is a prominent site in the neighborhood with long curved edges touching the roads. The maximum floor space was a prerequisite requirement from the beginning like most projects in Seoul, but the space program of 5 large classrooms for different age groupsallowed for linear shaped, skipped rectangles with a central stairway that merged with children exhibition space. At the top, there was a small house for the client’s family. The basement was designed as a communal kitchen and dinning room.
The façade was created with a signs, specifically referencing Morse codes, which provided internally windows for two types of inhabitants, lower ones for the children, and the higher ones for teachers and instructors.
The construction began but after the concrete structure was completed, there were quarrels between the client and general contractor. Soon, everything came to a complete halt. A whole year went by, when everything was resolved. The delay caused the client to withdraw from the running of kinder-garden.
There was a need for a renewal in design, changing the program into commercial and residential use. The basic spatial organizations were kept intact but new utility space were added with many more walls erected for privacy, which disrupted intended visual continuity of space by way of gaps between skipped floors. Anyhow, It is fortunate that the renewed design has been transformed into a reality with a new general contractor.
Luckily the Morse_d curve façade holds the initial designs intact and keeps the energy which was inspired from the very beginning.
Material used :
Structure: Reinforced concrete structure
Exterior Finish: Color steel plate
