Architecture by Us

Salt House Visitors Center

Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh

S.A.L.T HOUSE
VISITORS CENTER

S.E.E.D Haus

ARCHITECTS
S.e.e.d Haus

CLIENT
Maiim

PHOTOGRAPHS
Kyung Roh

LIGHTING
Mavericks

DESIGN TEAM
Eunjung Baek, Sunghyun Ahn, Hynwwoo Jo, Jisun Lee, Heejung Kim

CATEGORY
Visitor Center, Lighting

AREA
2258 m²

YEAR
2021

LOCATION
South Korea

Text description provided by the architects

S.A.L.T house stands for space for Air, Light, Tree. This project is designed to reinterpret the meaning of the sentence, “A room (or an architectural space) is not a room without natural light” in 『Louis I. Kahn — Light and Space』.

Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh

Namely, the light lights up a space and the internal mood is created by the intensity of light. Therefore, the light provides meaning to the place.

Holistic harmonization. This project will be meaningless in the design perspectives without the help of the surrounding nature as its reason for being was not in the architectural design. Rather, it started from the consideration of harmony or coexistence between building and nature.

Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh

We wanted to create spatial sensibility by utilizing the beauty of nature as much as possible and hoped that people could feel the changing time and environment through the light. This process would make this architectural space unique and people could experience the pleasure of space that would be destined to be reborn all the time.

Program. This building was designed for the visitors of Maiim Vision Village. For instance, visitors can eat food and drink tea on the first floor. It is also connected to the nearby playground so that many people can use both the inside and outside of the building.

Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh

The second floor is for lectures and concerts and it is designed in a way that performers (or lecturers) would not encounter with visitors. As it has many external spaces, however, they can feel natural to the fullest. Also, the outer space of the building serves as a middle zone where nature meets the structure.

Material. As for the building materials, we started from the consideration of shadows of light. The light creates shadows, exists by them, and we can sense it through the difference.

Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh

With regard to the entire mass, we intended to maximize the effect of light and shadow with the louver to feel the changes of light, and it would also allow us to connect the surrounding nature visually at the same time.

We applied zinc roofs that were painted manually one by one to have slightly different looks, rather than being monolithic, and to create harmony with nature when they were combined together.

That is the flexibility of the louver as a medium connecting the building to nature.

Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh


Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh


Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh


Salt House Visitors Center
Salt House Visitors Center
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh


Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh
Salt House Visitors Center
© Kyung Roh


Salt House Visitors Center
Section
Salt House Visitors Center
Section
Salt House Visitors Center
Section
Salt House Visitors Center
Section


Salt House Visitors Center
Elevation
Salt House Visitors Center
Elevation
Salt House Visitors Center
Elevation
Salt House Visitors Center
Elevation


Salt House Visitors Center
Ground Floor Plan
Salt House Visitors Center
Second Floor Plan
Salt House Visitors Center
Third Floor Plan
Salt House Visitors Center
Roof Plan
Salt House Visitors Center
Site Plan

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