Architect: REX Location: Incheon, Korea Client: Songdo Landmark City (SLC) Program: Residential towers with a total of approximately 2,000 units, community facilities, retail, and underground parking Area: 342,900 sqm Project Status: Completed Concept Design Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets Executive: HYUNDAI Architects & Engineers; SAMOO Architects & Engineers Key Personel: Adolfo Albaisa, Haviland Argo, E. Sean Bailey, Keith Burns, Nicolas de Courten, Rob Daurio, Jeremiah Joseph, Hui Lee, Katharine Meagher, Clinton Miller, Roberto Otero, Michelle Petersen, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Jacob Reidel, Nikolas Rychen, Tal Schori, Hala Sheikh, Nuo Xu Consultant: Magnusson Klemencic Associates
REX was asked to design a residential complex in Songdo Landmark City in which every apartment offers direct southern exposure, cross-ventilation, and views. However, Korean zoning guidelines and local building practices typically produce towers that fail to provide these three key, locally-prized amenities. Furthermore, prevailing site strategies carve up the open space such that the result is not the often-advertised “Towers in a Park,” but anemic “Towers in a Yard” instead.
Block A4 challenges conventional Korean development practices to provide the key amenities within each unit and a true publicly-accessible park at grade. Korean towers typically have four or more units per floor. As a result, many apartments have limited direct light, no southern exposure and poor cross-ventilation.
