SUIP 777 RESIDENCE

LOCATION:
suip-ri, seojong-myun, yangpyong-gun, kyunggi-do, korea

AREA:
building area: 125.80 sq.m
total floor area: 325.40 sq.m

CHRONOLOGY:
design period: 2002.06 - 2004.03
construction period: 2003.06 - 2004.05

KEY MATERIALS:
exterior: bush-hammered granite, ipe wood, zinc panels, corten steel cladding
interior: oak hardwood flooring, ceramic tile, paint over drywall

PROJECT TEAM: 
design architect: Sungkwan Lee + Heejae Lee (Hanul Architects & Engineers, Inc.)
architect of record: Sungkwan Lee (Hanul Architects & Engineers, Inc.)
construction management: Sungkwan Lee + Heejae Lee (Hanul Architects & Engineers, Inc.)

DESCRIPTION:
Located about an hour drive north-east of Seoul along the northern Han River, this house was designed for an architect and his photographer wife. The site is on a vast open area with open access to the riverfront and views of the mountains beyond.

The program called for a photography studio and gallery on the first floor, the living and dining spaces on the second floor and the bedrooms on the third floor.  Despite the relatively large site, the actual buildable area was an uneven pentagonal plot of land.   In response to this unusual plot, the house was designed into two separate rectangular masses that pivot off one another at an angle. 

The space that is created as a result of this separation is a vertical void that exends to the third floor.  Clad in etched granite to emphasize the sharp edges of the rectangular masses, the house is designed to appear as two volumes pivoting precariously on top of one another with no overlapping joints.