Songdo Landmark City Block A4 by REX

By Bustler Editors|

Thursday, Oct 14, 2010

REX' design for the Songdo Landmark City Block A4 (Image: Luxigon)

Currently a hot contender in the running for the new V&A at Dundee building, New York-based practice REX was asked to design a residential complex in Songdo Landmark City, Incheon, Korea in which every apartment offers direct southern exposure, cross-ventilation, and views.

Korean zoning guidelines and local building practices typically produce towers that fail to provide these three key, locally-prized amenities. Furthermore, prevailing site strategies carve up the open space such that the result is not the often-advertised “Towers in a Park,” but anemic “Towers in a Yard” instead.

Block A4 challenges conventional Korean development practices to provide the key amenities within each unit and a true publicly-accessible park at grade.

Aerial view of Block A4 (Image: Luxigon)

Detail of the slim towers (Image: Luxigon)

The façade is designed to combine flexibility with a consistent image. Depending on the preferences of individual apartment owners, any given façade opening can be finished as a floor-to ceiling window, an open-air balcony, or—with the use of a specially-designed manually operable window—an interior living space during cold months and a balcony during warm months. (Image: Luxigon)

Lobby

Korean towers typically have four or more units per floor. As a result, many apartments have limited direct light, no southern exposure and poor cross-ventilation. By splitting a single tower with four units per floor into four separate towers with only one unit per floor, the resulting super-slim building type...

...maximizes direct lighting and guarantees southern exposure for every unit,...

...increases cross ventilation,...

...increases views,...

...and even increases ambient light.

Exaggerated visualizations from structural analysis (Image: Magnusson Klemencic Associates)

In conventional four-unit towers, the structural core occupies the center of the floor plate.

The small floor plate of a super-slim tower allows the structural core to become the tower perimeter. The resulting stiffened structural tube opens up the interior and eases space planning.

Surprisingly, the structural tube can be 50% perforated, as long as all openings are located to maintain continuous load paths and to minimize lateral displacement. The dynamic behavior of the perforated structural tube is well within acceptable standards.

...it becomes possible to reduce the project build time by 63% compared to conventional gang-form construction methods. (Image: Magnusson Klemencic Associates)

In Korea, gang-form construction is commonly used for the exterior walls and columns. Traditional concrete construction is used for interior bearing elements and floor plates. As an alternative, by using jump-up/Jackdown construction to build the perforated structural tube,...

Floor plans

Elevations

The lobby of each tower occupies a double height space accessible from both grade and parking levels and provides daylight to below-grade community facilities.

The prevailing Korean superblock site strategy carves up the open space at grade with a tangled network of hardscape paths. The resultant pockets of green space are residual in character and more akin to yards than park.

By organizing the landscape at grade into a series of continuous bands, SLC Block A4 presents an alternative site strategy that will provide an open, active, pedestrian-friendly park. (Image: Bureau Bas Smets)

All vehicle access and parking is placed below grade, and the towers are sited within the parking grid. At ground level, the towers create a diverse hierarchy of open spaces.

The primary pedestrian routes are consolidated into only four hardscape paths, avoiding a patchwork that would, on a site of this size, disperse and diffuse activity and divide up the green space. (Image: Bureau Bas Smets)

Project Data:

LOCATION: Incheon, Korea

CLIENT: Songdo Landmark City (SLC)

PROGRAM: Residential towers with a total of approximately 2,000 units, community facilities, retail, and underground parking

AREA: 342,900 m² (3,691,000 sf)

CONSTRUCTION COST: Confidential

STATUS: Completed Concept Design

DESIGN ARCHITECT: REX

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Bureau Bas Smets

EXECUTIVE ARCHITECT: HYUNDAI Architects & Engineers; SAMOO Architects & Engineers

KEY PERSONNEL: Adolfo Albaisa, Haviland Argo, E. Sean Bailey, Keith Burns, Nicolas de Courten, Rob Daurio, Jeremiah Joseph, Hui Lee, Katharine Meagher, Clinton Miller, Roberto Otero, Michelle Petersen, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Jacob Reidel, Nikolas Rychen, Tal Schori, Hala Sheikh, Nuo Xu

CONSULTANT: Magnusson Klemencic Associates

All images courtesy REX unless otherwise noted.

Follow
0 Comments

Comment as :

Comment

Songdo Landmark City Block A4 by REX

Over $500,000 awarded to architectural discourse projects by Graham Foundation

Best in urban planning recognized at AIA Regional & Urban Design Award 2026

Sponsored Post by Buildner

Re:Form - New Life for Old Spaces / Edition #3 advance registration deadline is approaching!

New architecture and design competitions: IDEAS Awards, UIA-HYP CUP International Student Competition, Vancouver Tall Challenge, and Memorial to the Sixth Extinction

Best small projects chosen at AIA Small Project Award 2026

10 standout sustainable projects honored at AIA COTE Top Ten Award 2026

Best residential architecture of 2026 honored at AIA Housing Award

Best new interiors of 2026 chosen at AIA Interior Architecture Awards

Best global architecture honored at RIBA International Awards 2026

World’s most beautiful airports of 2026 chosen by Prix Versailles

New architecture and design competitions: Brick in Architecture Awards, Study Architecture Student Showcase, N.Y.C. Groceries, and New York High Falls Riverfront Market

SmithGroup’s ‘pioneering’ Philip Merrill Environmental Center wins AIA Twenty-five Year Award

Sponsored Post by Buildner

Museum of Emotions / Edition #8 FINAL registration deadline is in 5 DAYS!

Here are the winners of the 2026 AIA Architecture Awards

40 emerging architects and designers under 40 from Europe honored

Songdo Landmark City Block A4 by REX

By Bustler Editors|

Thursday, Oct 14, 2010

REX' design for the Songdo Landmark City Block A4 (Image: Luxigon)

Currently a hot contender in the running for the new V&A at Dundee building, New York-based practice REX was asked to design a residential complex in Songdo Landmark City, Incheon, Korea in which every apartment offers direct southern exposure, cross-ventilation, and views.

Korean zoning guidelines and local building practices typically produce towers that fail to provide these three key, locally-prized amenities. Furthermore, prevailing site strategies carve up the open space such that the result is not the often-advertised “Towers in a Park,” but anemic “Towers in a Yard” instead.

Block A4 challenges conventional Korean development practices to provide the key amenities within each unit and a true publicly-accessible park at grade.

Aerial view of Block A4 (Image: Luxigon)

Detail of the slim towers (Image: Luxigon)

The façade is designed to combine flexibility with a consistent image. Depending on the preferences of individual apartment owners, any given façade opening can be finished as a floor-to ceiling window, an open-air balcony, or—with the use of a specially-designed manually operable window—an interior living space during cold months and a balcony during warm months. (Image: Luxigon)

Lobby

Korean towers typically have four or more units per floor. As a result, many apartments have limited direct light, no southern exposure and poor cross-ventilation. By splitting a single tower with four units per floor into four separate towers with only one unit per floor, the resulting super-slim building type...

...maximizes direct lighting and guarantees southern exposure for every unit,...

...increases cross ventilation,...

...increases views,...

...and even increases ambient light.

Exaggerated visualizations from structural analysis (Image: Magnusson Klemencic Associates)

In conventional four-unit towers, the structural core occupies the center of the floor plate.

The small floor plate of a super-slim tower allows the structural core to become the tower perimeter. The resulting stiffened structural tube opens up the interior and eases space planning.

Surprisingly, the structural tube can be 50% perforated, as long as all openings are located to maintain continuous load paths and to minimize lateral displacement. The dynamic behavior of the perforated structural tube is well within acceptable standards.

...it becomes possible to reduce the project build time by 63% compared to conventional gang-form construction methods. (Image: Magnusson Klemencic Associates)

In Korea, gang-form construction is commonly used for the exterior walls and columns. Traditional concrete construction is used for interior bearing elements and floor plates. As an alternative, by using jump-up/Jackdown construction to build the perforated structural tube,...

Floor plans

Elevations

The lobby of each tower occupies a double height space accessible from both grade and parking levels and provides daylight to below-grade community facilities.

The prevailing Korean superblock site strategy carves up the open space at grade with a tangled network of hardscape paths. The resultant pockets of green space are residual in character and more akin to yards than park.

By organizing the landscape at grade into a series of continuous bands, SLC Block A4 presents an alternative site strategy that will provide an open, active, pedestrian-friendly park. (Image: Bureau Bas Smets)

All vehicle access and parking is placed below grade, and the towers are sited within the parking grid. At ground level, the towers create a diverse hierarchy of open spaces.

The primary pedestrian routes are consolidated into only four hardscape paths, avoiding a patchwork that would, on a site of this size, disperse and diffuse activity and divide up the green space. (Image: Bureau Bas Smets)

Project Data:

LOCATION: Incheon, Korea

CLIENT: Songdo Landmark City (SLC)

PROGRAM: Residential towers with a total of approximately 2,000 units, community facilities, retail, and underground parking

AREA: 342,900 m² (3,691,000 sf)

CONSTRUCTION COST: Confidential

STATUS: Completed Concept Design

DESIGN ARCHITECT: REX

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Bureau Bas Smets

EXECUTIVE ARCHITECT: HYUNDAI Architects & Engineers; SAMOO Architects & Engineers

KEY PERSONNEL: Adolfo Albaisa, Haviland Argo, E. Sean Bailey, Keith Burns, Nicolas de Courten, Rob Daurio, Jeremiah Joseph, Hui Lee, Katharine Meagher, Clinton Miller, Roberto Otero, Michelle Petersen, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Jacob Reidel, Nikolas Rychen, Tal Schori, Hala Sheikh, Nuo Xu

CONSULTANT: Magnusson Klemencic Associates

All images courtesy REX unless otherwise noted.

Follow
0 Comments

Comment as :

Comment

Alert me about new comments