Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Gwell Tower: Eroded Matrix

This is a project by Mass Studies and it is located at Seoul, South Korea. Project's program: Office building. There are twenty seven images for Gwell Tower: Eroded Matrix.

: © Yong-Kwan Kim

Project details

Project name: Gwell Tower: Eroded Matrix
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Program: Office building
Area: Site Area: 1082.2 m2 • Total Floor Area: 10,278.8 m2
Year: Design: 2005.7 – 2006.1 • Construction: 2006.2 – 2008.10
More details: Site Coverage Area: 510.2 m2 • Building-to-Land Ratio: 59.99% • Floor Area Ratio: 799.76% • Building Scope: 15F, B5 • Structure: RC • Finish: Curtain Wall
Client: Shin Young Dongsung
Project by: Mass Studies
Team: Project team: Minsuk Cho, Kisu Park, Joungwon Lee, Weekyun Yoo, Hyunjung Kim, Jongseo Kim, Joonhee Lee, Taehoon Hwang, Wonjin Kim, Daewoong Kim, Dongchul Yang, Bumhyun Chun, Bumhee Han, Jieun Lee, Jisoo Kim
Others: Structural Engineer: TEO Structure • MEP Engineer: HANA Consulting & Engineers • Civil Engineer: CG E & C • Construction: Shin Young Dongsung

Project images

Designer's statement

This 15-story office tower with 10,200 m2 of floor area functions as a tower prototype in an urban environment where a row of towers faces a wide main street and pedestrian traffic on one side and low-density, low-rise residential urban fabric on the other side, a contrasting urban condition that is quite common in Asian metropolises.

On the southern side where the tower confronts low-rise, small-scale urban fabric, it mimics this spatial quality on its façade as if this horizontal urban fabric had been turned vertical and become tower. As a result, each office unit has an outdoor space, creating a unique “eroded” appearance in an otherwise very simple glass curtain wall tower.

A variety of trees will be planted in the 32 outdoor gardens, giving each its own characteristic. Together, the individual gardens will create the effect of a larger vertical garden 65 meters tall climbing the building.

The northern side of the building facing the main road is mainly composed of bold vertical stripes revealing vertical movements within the building, such as viewing elevators, the stairs, mechanicals shafts and electronic signage to reflect contrasting urban scale and speed.