Seodaemun APT

Seodaemun APT, apartment in Seodaemun, Seoul, photo 3

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LOCATION: Seodaemun, Seoul
PURPOSE: Residence
SERVICES: Space Design
YEAR: 2023

How beautiful can an old apartment become? This project is an experiment that started from that question.

The subject was a 30-year-old apartment in Seodaemun. The tone the client wanted was “not molding, but not completely trimless either, somewhere in between.” It sounds vague, but the meaning was clear: a home that is minimal without looking empty, and neat without feeling cold. We call this sense of balance moderation.

We had to find a line that departs from the standardized look of an apartment without standing out too much. On the balcony, we kept the walls and removed only the window frames, and we softened the ceiling divider into a curve. The intent was to change the frame of the view seen through the outer windows.

The low ceiling was solved with a method mostly used in commercial spaces. We exposed and painted the ceiling, and set T5 indirect lights on top of a raceway so the light spreads along the ceiling. The raceway, running in a single line from the balcony to the far end of the kitchen, is one of the axes of this home’s design.

In the kitchen, every drawer and door is set flush inside the frame, revealing the proportion of lines and planes. The kitchen was not wide enough for an island. Instead, we turned the end that meets the living room into an L and built in a cabinet that also opens from the living room side. It is where the lighter, everyday dishes go. Lines of wood crossing the white surfaces divide the whole kitchen into a strict grid. The grid is kept strictly, and the wood softens the cold impression.

In the main bedroom, we replaced the window with a single large pane and planted reeds outside. This was to make up for the view, the fatal weakness of an old apartment. A low bed is centered on the window, and the shelving behind it acts as a headboard. It is a quiet room where you can focus only on sleep.

In the small room with a balcony, we laid a wooden floor one step higher on the balcony side. Sitting up on it, you look down on the view outside from a raised floor-seating space. We wanted to bring in a Korean element that is rarely felt in an apartment.

We aimed for a space that is meticulous but not cold, and new but not divisive. A home is a place to live, and living is hard to keep minimal. So it had to be a home whose structure holds even as belongings grow and households accumulate. Just as leather wears in with use, we hoped it would be a home that gets better with time.

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