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Suwon 'The Square'  

Suwon 'The Square'

Suwon-si, South Korea

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Suwon 'The Square'

Suwon-si, South Korea

Firm
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2016
### 1. Design Concept

**① Site Shape and Conditions (Relation with Neighboring Properties)?**
- The site is part of an urban district plan and is typically situated between neighboring plots or along a main road. However, our site has favorable conditions compared to other plots, as it is adjacent to a river and park to the west and a pedestrian path to the south. These features made the western river and southern pedestrian path ideal conditions when considering the view and orientation during the initial planning stages.

**② House Layout (Relation with Surrounding Scenery, Site, and Yard)?**
- Most clients requesting multi-family housing expect high building coverage and floor area ratios. In other words, there isn’t typically room to consider a yard as in a single-family house. Therefore, to avoid a purely space-seeking residence, the rental units were placed to maximize their view and orientation, while the owner’s unit was designed with a special focus on creating a unique space. The design proposes an inner courtyard (rooftop yard), resulting in a 4-story building with a house that incorporates a yard on the first floor.

**③ Orientation (Direction Facing the Main Facade)?**
- The building’s orientation was optimized based on the maximum allowable building coverage and parking entrance. Seven parking spaces for the multi-family units and one for a commercial space were arranged along the eastern side, facing the road. Of these, four spaces were placed along the northern side, allowing for a seamless entry, while the remaining four spaces were arranged with sufficient width to match the site’s dimensions. The building’s placement did not face any significant restrictions when selecting the site location.

**④ Characteristics of the Entrance from the External Access Road?**
- For this house, rather than focusing on the physical features of the entrance, we considered how it would be perceived from the outside. Without the luxury of space for a special entrance, the design instead emphasized the building's facade and its identity as visible from the river and surrounding buildings. The main entrance (for the multi-family section) is marked by a stairwell, which was carefully designed to reflect the client’s unique interior design style, making it a distinct entryway to the building.

**⑤ Features of the Facade (Wall and Roof Shapes)?**
- When a new town is developed, buildings are often constructed in diverse ways. Most architects prioritize public space, blending in with the surroundings, rather than focusing on the grandeur of the individual house. When we first visited the site, we were struck by the haphazard array of multi-family housing and the trend of maximizing floor area ratio, often seeking unnecessary flamboyance. Our goal for this house was to achieve simplicity and minimalism. Rather than being flashy, the design emphasized a clean, recognizable appearance. On the side facing the river and pedestrian path, square windows were chosen to highlight the view and orientation, and the exterior walls were finished with cement bricks for a minimalist look.

**⑥ Design Features Considering the Client’s Lifestyle?**
- The work style of Yuta Architecture is not about creating a house for the architect but about designing spaces that best suit the client. This project evolved through long exchanges of ideas with the client. For example, the owner's unit on the fourth floor, excluding the rental units, was specifically designed to match the client’s lifestyle. The layout features a unique design with a continuous open kitchen, living room, and directly connected master bedroom, all tailored to the client’s needs. The children’s spaces were also designed to be independent through the use of an inner courtyard. The open attic, connected to both the living room and the master bedroom, serves not just as storage but as a shared and private space.

**⑦ Key Focus During the Design Process?**
- The core of multi-family housing is to create a rich space and a distinct identity within the maximum allowable building coverage and floor area ratio. No matter how impressive the space or facade, a multi-family house that fails to maximize the usable area does not differ much from an ordinary home. Therefore, our design aimed to create a sense of identity within the maximum available area. For the layout, we focused on the views and orientation of both the owner’s unit and rental units. For the facade, we pursued a minimalist design that avoided excess ornamentation, emphasizing the square (1.8m x 1.8m) windows that reflect the true essence of the building. The open attic and inner courtyard in the owner’s unit, achieved by subtracting rather than adding space, create a variety of expressions within a single level. The project’s greatest success was in creating a space through subtraction, rather than filling every corner.

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### 2. Construction Points

**① Specific Requests from the Client?**
- The only special request from the client was related to the structural framework, exterior appearance, and overall spatial outline. The client wanted the designer to shape the overall outline, while the details (such as interior finishes and decorations) should reflect the client’s style. Since the client works in interior design, there were ongoing feedback exchanges throughout the construction process to adjust and fine-tune the space and style to match the client’s vision.

**② Structural, Functional, and Aesthetic Features?**
- Minimalism.

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