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Evergreen Church
Evergreen Church
Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
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Other Projects by KODE architects
Evergreen Church
Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Firm
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2022
SIZE
25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft
BUDGET
Unknown
Prologue: A Church in the New Downtown
We believe that a new building becomes truly meaningful when it harmonizes with its surrounding landscape—contributing not just as an object, but as a participant in its environment. For that reason, reading and understanding the context around a site is a central part of our design process. The site for this project, however, is located in Banwol-dong, Hwaseong-si—an area in the midst of transformation through large-scale urban development. This transitional context raised two fundamental design questions:
1. What should a church look like within a newly forming landscape?
2. What role should a church play in the broader urban environment?
Churches, more than most other buildings, are places that accumulate time. They are extended, repaired, and preserved—remaining in the same place for decades, even centuries. With this in mind, designing a church to stand for generations required not only careful consideration of function and symbolism but also foresight into a landscape not yet completed. We understood that the surrounding neighborhood would eventually become a dense urban context—framed by apartments, commercial centers, and public amenities. Therefore, we envisioned a building that would settle into this future cityscape with quiet dignity: a simple, calm form that could harmonize with any future landscape.
Site Analysis
The site sits at a major crossroads—surrounded by high-density apartments, large retail complexes, a public park, and a future knowledge industry center. It enjoys flat topography and excellent accessibility, both on foot and by car. To the northwest lies a construction site for the knowledge industry center, and an established park; the south adjoins a low-rise apartment block; to the east, an elementary school; and to the west, neighborhood living facilities across an 8-meter road.
While the three-story apartment to the south ensures sufficient daylighting, the church’s proximity to this smaller residential structure raised concerns about potential visual dominance. To address this, we embedded architectural gestures into the design that would scale down the building’s presence and ensure it blended respectfully into its urban surroundings.
01. Concrete and the Movement of Light
Given the uncertainty of the surrounding landscape’s final form, we chose a simple, unified massing that would neither overwhelm the streetscape nor feel out of place amid the emerging urban context. Concrete was selected as the primary material—familiar, robust, and able to quietly assert its presence within the city. Specifically, we used ribbed concrete, which—unlike flat surfaces—captures and expresses the depth of light and shadow throughout the day and seasons.
Multiple studies were conducted on rib spacing and form during the design phase. In the end, we selected rectangular ribs, which offered the strongest shadow definition and better constructability than semi-circular options. Prototypes were developed through wood-up testing, followed by the production of modular metal formwork to ensure budget efficiency and construction precision.
As light shifts from morning to evening, and season to season, the façade transforms—quietly reflecting the spiritual essence of the church: steady, grounded, and modest. The material expression avoids overt symbolism, yet communicates a timeless and restrained religious presence within the city.
02. Empty Space, Filled Space
In most urban settings, built space dominates. Emptiness is rare, often reserved for arenas or performance halls. Yet churches must accommodate both: the intimate and the expansive; the everyday and the sacred.
In this building, "filled" spaces are placed toward the front for maximum functionality and light access. The "empty" space—a vertically open hall—is positioned at the rear, serving as both a visual and physical buffer to the adjacent apartment block. This volume also acts as a light well, channeling daylight deep into the building’s interior through a skylight above.
This "emptied" space is not merely residual—it plays a central role in balancing functional need, spatial experience, and urban context.
03. Architecture that is Easy to Approach
To believers, a church is a familiar and comforting place. But for non-believers, overly symbolic religious architecture can feel intimidating or exclusionary. Despite its modest height—a basement and four above-ground floors—this church had the potential to feel overly imposing in a neighborhood of schools and homes.
We sought to reduce visual weight and religious intensity by making the building welcoming, inclusive, and approachable. The first floor was opened with transparent glass to invite passersby, while the upper floors were clad in solid ribbed concrete—presenting a quiet, composed façade. This restrained material palette symbolized religious humility, not dominance, and avoided architectural posturing.
We believe that architecture embodying religious values should not isolate, but embrace all people with openness and respect.
Epilogue: A Silently Settled Church
This church stands as the only religious building in a landscape dominated by apartments and commercial structures. Its task was not only to assert a symbolic presence but also to blend into a still-forming urban fabric. Achieving this balance required restraint.
We minimized material diversity to avoid visual noise, using only glass and concrete to express the church’s identity. The massing was kept simple, the palette subdued, and the transitions between spaces carefully calibrated. Even the empty courtyard—an unusual gesture in urban Korea—offered not grandeur, but a moment of distance between religious and residential programs.
Through these decisions, we sought to create an architecture that respects its context, embodies its values modestly, and welcomes the city quietly.
We believe that a new building becomes truly meaningful when it harmonizes with its surrounding landscape—contributing not just as an object, but as a participant in its environment. For that reason, reading and understanding the context around a site is a central part of our design process. The site for this project, however, is located in Banwol-dong, Hwaseong-si—an area in the midst of transformation through large-scale urban development. This transitional context raised two fundamental design questions:
1. What should a church look like within a newly forming landscape?
2. What role should a church play in the broader urban environment?
Churches, more than most other buildings, are places that accumulate time. They are extended, repaired, and preserved—remaining in the same place for decades, even centuries. With this in mind, designing a church to stand for generations required not only careful consideration of function and symbolism but also foresight into a landscape not yet completed. We understood that the surrounding neighborhood would eventually become a dense urban context—framed by apartments, commercial centers, and public amenities. Therefore, we envisioned a building that would settle into this future cityscape with quiet dignity: a simple, calm form that could harmonize with any future landscape.
Site Analysis
The site sits at a major crossroads—surrounded by high-density apartments, large retail complexes, a public park, and a future knowledge industry center. It enjoys flat topography and excellent accessibility, both on foot and by car. To the northwest lies a construction site for the knowledge industry center, and an established park; the south adjoins a low-rise apartment block; to the east, an elementary school; and to the west, neighborhood living facilities across an 8-meter road.
While the three-story apartment to the south ensures sufficient daylighting, the church’s proximity to this smaller residential structure raised concerns about potential visual dominance. To address this, we embedded architectural gestures into the design that would scale down the building’s presence and ensure it blended respectfully into its urban surroundings.
01. Concrete and the Movement of Light
Given the uncertainty of the surrounding landscape’s final form, we chose a simple, unified massing that would neither overwhelm the streetscape nor feel out of place amid the emerging urban context. Concrete was selected as the primary material—familiar, robust, and able to quietly assert its presence within the city. Specifically, we used ribbed concrete, which—unlike flat surfaces—captures and expresses the depth of light and shadow throughout the day and seasons.
Multiple studies were conducted on rib spacing and form during the design phase. In the end, we selected rectangular ribs, which offered the strongest shadow definition and better constructability than semi-circular options. Prototypes were developed through wood-up testing, followed by the production of modular metal formwork to ensure budget efficiency and construction precision.
As light shifts from morning to evening, and season to season, the façade transforms—quietly reflecting the spiritual essence of the church: steady, grounded, and modest. The material expression avoids overt symbolism, yet communicates a timeless and restrained religious presence within the city.
02. Empty Space, Filled Space
In most urban settings, built space dominates. Emptiness is rare, often reserved for arenas or performance halls. Yet churches must accommodate both: the intimate and the expansive; the everyday and the sacred.
In this building, "filled" spaces are placed toward the front for maximum functionality and light access. The "empty" space—a vertically open hall—is positioned at the rear, serving as both a visual and physical buffer to the adjacent apartment block. This volume also acts as a light well, channeling daylight deep into the building’s interior through a skylight above.
This "emptied" space is not merely residual—it plays a central role in balancing functional need, spatial experience, and urban context.
03. Architecture that is Easy to Approach
To believers, a church is a familiar and comforting place. But for non-believers, overly symbolic religious architecture can feel intimidating or exclusionary. Despite its modest height—a basement and four above-ground floors—this church had the potential to feel overly imposing in a neighborhood of schools and homes.
We sought to reduce visual weight and religious intensity by making the building welcoming, inclusive, and approachable. The first floor was opened with transparent glass to invite passersby, while the upper floors were clad in solid ribbed concrete—presenting a quiet, composed façade. This restrained material palette symbolized religious humility, not dominance, and avoided architectural posturing.
We believe that architecture embodying religious values should not isolate, but embrace all people with openness and respect.
Epilogue: A Silently Settled Church
This church stands as the only religious building in a landscape dominated by apartments and commercial structures. Its task was not only to assert a symbolic presence but also to blend into a still-forming urban fabric. Achieving this balance required restraint.
We minimized material diversity to avoid visual noise, using only glass and concrete to express the church’s identity. The massing was kept simple, the palette subdued, and the transitions between spaces carefully calibrated. Even the empty courtyard—an unusual gesture in urban Korea—offered not grandeur, but a moment of distance between religious and residential programs.
Through these decisions, we sought to create an architecture that respects its context, embodies its values modestly, and welcomes the city quietly.
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