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Icheon 'Sugar lump House'
Icheon 'Sugar lump House'
Icheon-si, South Korea
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Other Projects by UTAA
Icheon 'Sugar lump House'
Icheon-si, South Korea
The multi-family house is the second most common housing type in South Korea after apartments. Typically, the lower floors are used for parking or small shops and offices, while the upper three residential floors are used for living, with the top floor being the owner's unit.
The completed multi-family house in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, is located at the end of a traditional market street where the five-day market takes place, right next to a large supermarket. The client wanted two floors of commercial facilities on the lower levels, residential units on the upper floors for rent, and the top floor for the owner’s unit.
Before entrusting us with the design, the client had received proposals from other architects, but they felt the results were no different from the standard multi-family houses they had seen for over ten years in the surrounding area. The client requested a redesign, hoping to inject some vitality into the street scene, which was rather dull, and make the building stand out from the pedestrian and vehicle traffic around the area.
The site was relatively narrow and subject to both the road setback line and the solar angle for the northern direction. Most of the designs that were proposed during the process were either stepped buildings or had upper parts that slanted due to these restrictions. However, these designs still felt lacking, so we decided to start over from scratch.
While re-analyzing the existing multi-family houses, we noticed a recurring pattern where balconies had been extended and used as part of the living spaces, such as adding windows to create a more enclosed exterior, thus losing the three-dimensional appearance. Research revealed that many residents of multi-family and multi-unit houses preferred external balconies to internal ones.
To break away from the uniformity of existing multi-family houses, we proposed, after discussion with the client, to add an open external balcony to each unit, considering both the northern solar exposure and the road setback line. The balcony was planned as a key element of the building's exterior façade. It functions not only as a small yard connecting the interior to the exterior but also as a space for drying laundry, storage, a kimchi jar rack, or for placing air conditioner units.
For the exterior materials, we suggested using just one material from the very beginning. The surrounding area already had too many materials, colors, and signs that created a cluttered environment, so we felt the need for a toned-down approach. After testing various materials, we chose black marble stone that had been ground to achieve a grayish tone. While polished marble is often used in motels and buildings to create a shiny, eye-catching effect, grinding it results in a subtle color that changes depending on the light, allowing the texture of the material to be appreciated.
Because of its distinctive appearance, we wanted to avoid using overly flashy materials, as they could end up being more detrimental than beneficial. The finished building, with its stone material, does not have the heavy feeling often associated with stone but instead gives a rhythmic, sculptural impression, energizing the streetscape with vitality.
Fortunately, during the construction process, the contractor and site manager found the project challenging but enjoyable, which allowed the work to be completed in a fun and satisfying manner. After completion, the building was quickly rented out under much better conditions compared to other similar multi-family houses built around the same time, and the client was extremely satisfied. Interestingly, the person who benefited the most from the completion of this building was neither the client nor the contractor, but the owner of the café on the first floor, who received many visitors interested in seeing the building.
The completed multi-family house in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, is located at the end of a traditional market street where the five-day market takes place, right next to a large supermarket. The client wanted two floors of commercial facilities on the lower levels, residential units on the upper floors for rent, and the top floor for the owner’s unit.
Before entrusting us with the design, the client had received proposals from other architects, but they felt the results were no different from the standard multi-family houses they had seen for over ten years in the surrounding area. The client requested a redesign, hoping to inject some vitality into the street scene, which was rather dull, and make the building stand out from the pedestrian and vehicle traffic around the area.
The site was relatively narrow and subject to both the road setback line and the solar angle for the northern direction. Most of the designs that were proposed during the process were either stepped buildings or had upper parts that slanted due to these restrictions. However, these designs still felt lacking, so we decided to start over from scratch.
While re-analyzing the existing multi-family houses, we noticed a recurring pattern where balconies had been extended and used as part of the living spaces, such as adding windows to create a more enclosed exterior, thus losing the three-dimensional appearance. Research revealed that many residents of multi-family and multi-unit houses preferred external balconies to internal ones.
To break away from the uniformity of existing multi-family houses, we proposed, after discussion with the client, to add an open external balcony to each unit, considering both the northern solar exposure and the road setback line. The balcony was planned as a key element of the building's exterior façade. It functions not only as a small yard connecting the interior to the exterior but also as a space for drying laundry, storage, a kimchi jar rack, or for placing air conditioner units.
For the exterior materials, we suggested using just one material from the very beginning. The surrounding area already had too many materials, colors, and signs that created a cluttered environment, so we felt the need for a toned-down approach. After testing various materials, we chose black marble stone that had been ground to achieve a grayish tone. While polished marble is often used in motels and buildings to create a shiny, eye-catching effect, grinding it results in a subtle color that changes depending on the light, allowing the texture of the material to be appreciated.
Because of its distinctive appearance, we wanted to avoid using overly flashy materials, as they could end up being more detrimental than beneficial. The finished building, with its stone material, does not have the heavy feeling often associated with stone but instead gives a rhythmic, sculptural impression, energizing the streetscape with vitality.
Fortunately, during the construction process, the contractor and site manager found the project challenging but enjoyable, which allowed the work to be completed in a fun and satisfying manner. After completion, the building was quickly rented out under much better conditions compared to other similar multi-family houses built around the same time, and the client was extremely satisfied. Interestingly, the person who benefited the most from the completion of this building was neither the client nor the contractor, but the owner of the café on the first floor, who received many visitors interested in seeing the building.
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