The Glass Haus situated on the 7th Floor of the Hyundai Mokdong Department Store in Seoul is a contemporary interpretation of a traditional green house.
As an informal indoor garden, it serves both the department store below and the residential towers above as a space of relaxation and rest.
Department stores in Korea are complex typologies and often engage with the local community beyond their retail offering.
The Glass Haus is such a space with a unique surplus value.
It is a publically accessible indoor space without a fixed programme or pressure to buy or consume.
Moreover, it serves as an entrance lobby to the residential towers above.
The Glass Haus extends an existing external roof garden into the indoors, creating an airy room filled with light and vegetation, a generous free offering to both visitors of the department store as well as local residents.
The iconic pitched roof is back-lit to provide a calm and even illumination with additional focussed grow lights above the planting areas.
A glazed events space at the rear can be partitioned off for activities such as cooking clubs or small concerts.
CREDITS
PROJECT: Glass Haus
STUDIO: Casper Mueller Kneer Architects
AREA: 1,146 m2
LOCATION: Seoul, South Korea
YEAR: 2021
LEAD DESIGNERS: Casper Mueller Kneer Architects, Design Alle (Landscape), Lichtvision (Lighting)
PHOTOGRAPHS: Roh Kyung
