Layered Terrace House responds to Pangyo-dong's dense urbanity
The dense suburban housing in Pangyo-dong, an area 15 minutes south of central Seoul, leaves little room for parks and greenery. Luckily, Jo Jinman Architects designed Layered Terrace House with a built-in solution to this problem; it includes staggered levels, sheltering 17 different rooms and three external terraces and courtyards, slotting everything into a site of just 13 x 17m.
Eight family members occupy this house, including grandparents, aunt and uncle, father, mother and two young children. Each resident had different requirements and visions of their perfect home; the grandparents, for example, were keen to get a kitchen garden and study, whereas the young family needed a separate living space, playroom and study for the children.
Take an interactive tour of Layered Terrace House
Constrained by strict planning regulations that dictated going no more than two storeys high, the architects carefully arranged spaces within a multi-layered split level property with a roof terrace. The spacious result feels more like a three-storey house.
The design is ‘dynamic and responsive to accommodate a broad range of fixed and changing activities’, explain the architects. Wide maple stairs link the downstairs lounge to the half-floor of bedrooms above – doubling up as cinema seats for a projected screen. Meanwhile the playroom factors in the children’s present height, enabling two levels within a 3.6m high space, but with a removable mezzanine which will transform the space into a master bedroom as they grow up.
A central courtyard unites all spaces, with interior facades of striped leftover Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) creating an intricate timber pattern, which rises up to the roof. Within the rooms, a modest composition of white walls and furnishings, and maple wood floors brings all spaces together, in a continuous layout that cleverly avoids corridors and wasted space.
The introverted house's elevations are rendered dark grey and feature few openings towards the road. Views are largely focused inwards, on the tranquil hidden courtyard and upper terraces, though small balconies and windows puncture the austere external surface, helping natural cross-ventilation throughout. Structural walls and floor slabs are visible on the external facades, revealing a hint of the internal arrangement.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Audi launches AUDI, a China-only sub-brand, with a handsome new EV concept
The AUDI E previews a new range of China-specific electric vehicles from the German carmaker’s new local sub-brand
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Inside Izza Marrakech: A new riad where art and bohemian luxury meet
Honouring the late Bill Willis’ hedonistic style, Izza Marrakech fuses traditional Moroccan craftsmanship with the best of contemporary art
By Ty Gaskins Published
-
Clocking on: the bedside analogue timepieces that won’t alarm your aesthetic
We track down the only tick-tocks that matter, nine traditional alarm clocks that tell the time with minimum fuss and maximum visual impact
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Join our tour of Taikaka House, a slice of New Zealand in Seoul
Taikaka House, meaning ‘heart-wood’ in Māori, is a fin-clad, art-filled sanctuary, designed by Nicholas Burns
By SuhYoung Yun Published
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practices
In the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Studio Heech transforms a Seoul home, nodding to Pierre Chareau’s Maison De Verre
Young South Korean practice Studio Heech joins the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Architect Byoung Cho on nature, imperfection and interconnectedness
South Korean architect Byoung Cho’s characterful projects celebrate the quirks of nature and the interconnectedness of all things
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
2023 Seoul Biennale of architecture invites visitors to step into the outdoors
Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2023 has launched in the South Korean capital, running themes around nature and land through the lens of urbanism
By SuhYoung Yun Published
-
Tadao Ando’s ‘Space of Light’, a meditation pavilion, opens in South Korea
Tadao Ando’s ‘Space of Light’ pavilion opens at Museum SAN in South Korea
By SuhYoung Yun Published
-
Seosaeng House is a holiday home designed to capture the rising sun
Seosaeng House, Studio Weave’s first project in South Korea, is a clifftop holiday home perfectly designed to capture a new day dawning over the East Sea
By SuhYoung Yun Published
-
K-Pop hit factory gets a futuristic new office in Seoul
UNStudio completes headquarters building for leaders in K-Pop scene YG Entertainment, in Seoul
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated