Watarstay [Wa:Tar]

Mon Sep 22, 2025Hotel, Resort, Community CenterKorea, South2024Regionalism100A associates

WATARSTAY [WA:TAR]

100A associates

ARCHITECTS
100A associates

LEAD ARCHITECT
Kwang-il An, Sol-ha Park

PHOTOGRAPHS
Jae-yoon Kim

AREA
150 m²

YEAR
2024

LOCATION
Jeju-si, South Korea

CATEGORY
Hospitality Architecture

English description provided by the architects.

In Bongseong-ri, Jeju, where Hallasan Mountain and the oreums harmonize, Watar rests on the land as an accommodation space capturing the beauty of Tamna (the old name for Jeju) through a refined sensibility.

We sought to embody Jeju's classical landscapes and the reflections born from them in a contemplative atmosphere unique to this place—an ambiance that flows into its own sensibility and emotion.

The narrative beauty of the land deepens the architecture with a quiet gradient of shadows, leaving an impression imbued with a calm and time-worn grace.

We named this place Watar to contain the will to pursue beauty, the origin of existence drawn from the land, and the attitude of quietly moving toward that origin.

This attitude inherent in the name naturally manifests in the materiality and sensibility of the architecture, embodying a stance rooted in nature yet directed inward—a posture of architecture that holds an inward force.

The form and materiality of the building connect seamlessly with Jeju's indigenous way of life.

By dissolving the boundary between inside and outside, the phenomenological interplay of light and wind settles quietly into the user's inner imagery.

This awakens the senses of those who stay here, leading to an experience of contemplation that resonates with the surrounding landscape.

The uniqueness of the land and scenery grants the architecture an autonomous identity, becoming an inner representation of spirit and aesthetic consciousness.

Embracing the humility and grace of the periphery, this architecture reveals its quiet beauty not by adding, but by subtracting.

At the far end of the space lies a bathing room, conceived in the spirit of Mok-yok Jae-gye* (沐浴齋戒)—a ritual of purifying both body and mind—becoming a place for Seong-ui Jeong-sim* (誠意正心), where one refines the heart with sincerity and integrity.

This was born from the owner's approach to the space:

a cultivated mindset of sincerity and moral clarity formed the foundation of the architecture, later extending into the way guests are welcomed and materializing in the spatial form of ritual cleansing.

This bath, therefore, is not merely a space for hygiene but a place where the owner's ethos is translated into physical form—a space of courtesy where guests may restore themselves to a state of clarity and tranquility.

Through its intimate relationship with nature, Watar asks questions about the posture of existence.

It is a place to attune the textures of mind and senses beyond the everyday—a quiet architectural response that invites reflection, rest, and attentiveness to the essence of being.

*Mok-yok Jae-gye (沐浴齋戒): a cleansing ritual to wash away impurities from body and soul.

*Seong-ui Jeong-sim (誠意正心): a mindset of sincere intention and moral clarity.

T +82 70 8860 9135 F +82 2 6971 9136

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18-1 Jeongneung-ro 10ra-gil, Seongbuk District, Seoul, South Korea