'SnowAide

Five Corners House

Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim

FIVE CORNERS HOUSE

Snow AIDe

ARCHITECTS
Snow AIDe

PHOTOGRAPHS
Jaeyoun Kim

AREA
696 m²

YEAR
2020

CONSULTANTS
ileap Constructure

MANUFACTURERS
AutoDesk, Enscape, DADA brick, Noroo paint, Pos-Zinc, Rhino, Vitna

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PROJECT
3D Real-Time Rendering Software, Enscape

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Hohyun Park, Hyunjoo Kim, Sunggon Cho

DESIGN TEAM
Hyunwoo Park, Sungwoong Yoon

COUNTRY
South Korea

CATEGORY
HOUSES, RESIDENTIAL

LOCATION
SOUTH KOREA

Background - The site is an old town in the northeast of Seoul. This town faces The Jungnang river on the west side and the Yongma mountain on the east side.

Although the beautiful natural environment, the area was outdated in the last 30 years.

Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim

The client, who spent his youth in this town, wanted to build a new building for his old parents. When I visited the site for the first time, the existing small building looked like a withdrawn child surrounded by tall buildings. The client told me his idea about retail space, rental houses, and a small house for his parents on the top floor.

Site & Mass - The rectangular shape site is only open to the Neungdong road on the west side. All the other side are adjoining with other buildings. Viewing and natural lighting are limited solely to the west. Therefore, every residential unit needs to see the west side.

Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim

If all the residential units line up on the site’s longitudinal axis, they have to see the church’s wall, which is right next. The residential units need to be shifted as a step shape to share the natural light and view of the Neungdong road.

The next question is how to solve the parking space. Because of the narrow width of the site, underground parking is not efficient. So, the parking space is planed on the ground level.

Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim

The building’s primary form is derived from placing residential units and parking spaces on the ground level.

Program & Plan - The client wanted to have a small café space on the ground level, commercial space on the underground and 2nd level, residential units for rent on the 3rd and 4th level, and the house for his parents on the 5th level.

Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim

However, the limitation of parking space decides the size of the whole building. We determined the final program by reducing the number of residential units and removing the underground based on the maximum parking number.

After setting the program, the size, and the basic shape, we started to design the house on the 5th floor. Since the client wanted to make a house with a garden, We placed the garden on the southeast corner, where we can see the scenery of the Mountain.

Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim

The wooden decks connect the garden to the living room on two sides by folding doors. There are the kitchen and dining on the back of the living area. Behind the dining area, the stair connects to the attic. The attic space is for the family who visits to see their parents.

Since the attic’s height is low, we put the glass wall on the living room’s side to avoid stuffy space and get the sunlight. The master zone is on the west side end to see the city view.

Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim
Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim

Design & Material - The steps shape has five corners, and the corner windows show a different life.

The inverted triangle windows, which connect to the corner windows, are the result of balancing between viewing and hiding. The west elevation, which is seen from the road, could be massively looking.

So, adding diagonal patterns of brick tiles and metal c channels creates tension on the façade. The diagonal pattern and the roofline make the dynamic window shape in the master room.

Five Corners House
© Jaeyoun Kim


Five Corners House
Site Plan
Five Corners House
Ground Floor Plan
Five Corners House
Second Floor Plan
Five Corners House
Third and Fourth Floor Plan
Five Corners House
Fifth Floor Plan
Five Corners House
Attic Floor Plan


Five Corners House
Mass Diagram

Five Corners House
Program Diagram 01
Five Corners House
Program Diagram 02


Five Corners House
West Elevation
Five Corners House
South Elevation


Five Corners House
Cross Section

'SnowAide
T +82 2 5784001 F +82 2 5794001
'SnowAide
2nd Floor, Bogojae Building, 6 Samseong-ro 126-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea, South