Brighten Hannam

The luxury 16-storey apartment building of Brighten Hannam is due to begin construction this autumn. This exciting project in the vibrant Hannam-Dong district of Seoul offers residents unique views over the surrounding historic urban context and nearby Han River. The apartment complex brings 14 floors of curated luxury housing 60-meters into the sky while in turn meeting the street with a retail podium of 2 floors. The facade's shifting volumes are designed to maximize daylight within all apartments while creating greater distances from the surrounding neighbouring buildings. Furthermore, the rhythmic vertical forms enable the integration of discrete balconies, extending the interior living spaces of each apartment and creating direct and easy access to the outdoors. The balconies become vertical green wedges that subdivide the building volume which, coupled with a façade of deep, faceted ceramic panels, help to maintain privacy between the adjacent apartment units. Outdoor access and green space is additionally created for residents within the rooftop garden; an accommodating gathering space subdivided with organic and seasonal planters to create a series of intimate outdoor rooms, providing the opportunity for privacy between gathering resident groups.

The building's extremely considered design consisting of compact cores and concentrated apartment service areas allows for additional ceiling height within the living spaces lined with full height glazing, bringing light deep into each apartment unit. The play of soft light upon the robust interior material palette of primarily wood and stone creates a calm and comfortable living environment, timeless in its expression.

Overall the Brighten Hannam project, both inside and out, offers ephemeral and flexible living spaces, adaptable to each resident's specific lifestyle.

Project: Residential, Commercial
Size: 31,200 sqm
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Client: ShinYoung
Collaborators: Urban Agency, Kwonwon, Integ, Parkkim
Type: Invited Competition
Status: Ongoing, Completion 2024Team: Heechan Park, Henning Stüben, Minjae Kwon, Kostas Poulopoulos, Scott Grbavac, Doohyeong Lee, Borja Santurino, Jakub Smiech