The Maree Resort, meaning ocean tide, is situated on the southern coast of Korea overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The development consists of four main areas - a 25,000 sm retail arcade, 170,000 sm condo towers, a 255-room five-star hotel and a 30,000 sm entertainment center including a water park.
Conceptually, from an urban design perspective, our goal was to reinforce connections throughout the site - through the east-west corridor - linking the resort to the neighboring shopping district to the west and to the east, a public park. There is a circuitous flow around the site but another connection had to be established to link the Maree Resort directly to the beach - a grand promenade - established the north-south connection stemming from the entertainment zone directly to the beach, abutting the retail zone on the way.
The design concept for the buildings was also based around a connection to and reflection of the ocean and beach. The forms of the buildings reflect undulating waves and circulation around and through the resort all connects back to the beach. Each building type within the resort is independent from the others but the flow and movement around the resort tie all the components together. The grand elevated outdoor promenade established a main thoroughfare from the beach to Haeundae Beach.
The resort is tiered to allow for all zones to have expansive views of the beach. Additionally, the multi-layered approach creates smaller outlets for a more secure circulation from the condos to the beach. The Cybercube is the nucleus of the resort and sits in the middle of the direct connection to the beach and on the east-west pedestrian corridor that connects to the resorts to the north and a park to the south of Maree.