‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office

Designband Yoap Architects

INTERIOR DESIGN
Designband Yoap, Sla Korea

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Yongwoo Engineering

GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Moowon Construction

BUILDING EQUIPMENT
Jungyeon Engineering

ARCHITECTS IN CHARGE
Shin Hyun Bo, Ryu In Keun, Kim Doran

CIVIL ENGINEERING
Naun Tsi

PHOTOGRAPHS
Shein Do Keaun

AREA
110 M²

YEAR
2014

LOCATION
Seoul, South Korea

CATEGORY
Office Buildings

Text description provided by architect.

The ground of ‘a pointing hand’ form is seated on the top of the hill in Sangsu-dong area, Seoul.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

Just as like the name of the region meaning ‘the town above the river’, it is looking down Han River from the top.

A cliff of 6m height is dividing ‘the pointing finger’ part above and ‘the hand part below.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

These differences of narrow/wide and above/below parts in one small ground worked as obstacles from the initial phase of designing already, and the architects should have walked through.

The site is accessible from both upper and lower levels, but the later is possible only by walk.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

The upper level with both vehicle and pedestrian access was selected as the main entrance, but the narrow width of ‘pointing finger’ part made another obstacle.

The architects decided not to locate any mass on the narrow part, and pushed the building to the edge of the cliff instead. This placement of a heavy mass onto the cliff resulted a kind of strange tension and the strong viewpoint to Han River.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

This finally formed the main image of the building, ‘the heavy rock on the cliff’. The rocks stacked from 6m below the cliff reveals itself above the hill and build another rock on the hill after all.

‘The rock’ settles itself steadily onto the ground, but without overwhelming the scale of its surroundings.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

The selected main material to reveal the concept of ‘the rock’ was brick. Aged bricks with rough surface were primarily used for the overall facades.

Reflective coated-bricks were selected for the upper part of the building, and it helped highlighting the image of steep rock by actively keeping or reflecting sunlight.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

Openings also serve to emphasize the heavy façades. Two kinds of glazing were used. Clear glazing is aligned to the inner face of walls and takes the deep shadow on it.

Reflective one is aligned to the outside surface and makes a fake hole on the façade by reflecting surroundings.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

These two types of openings make rich inner space with various depth to the outside as well.

The staircase vertically penetrating the cliff combines every floor from behind.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

The ground floor on the lower level is the only one which does not have view to the river, but it creates its own unique atmosphere by transforms 6m level difference to its own floor height.

The 1st floor of main entrance serves as the connecting part between the narrow approaching path and the viewpoint to the river.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun

Repeating structure of the interior space and the outside terrace on the 3rd and the 4th floor makes its story end on the roof floor, while finally looking down the river and the city altogether.

‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun


‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun


‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun


‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
© Shin Do Keun


‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Ground Floor Plan
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
First Floor Plan
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Second Floor Plan
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Third Floor Plan
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Terrace Floor Plan
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Roof Plan


‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Elevation 1
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Elevation 2
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Elevation 3
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Elevation 4


‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Isometric 1
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Isometric 2
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Isometric 3
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Isometric 4


‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Section 1
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Section 2
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Section 3
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Section 4


‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Section Concept
‘The Rock’ Sangsu-dong office
Site Plan