Bronze Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2024
Park Avenue Complex Commercial Space
by Minwoo Ahn
- A' Design Award 2024 Bronze Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Ahn and Partners
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 12,498
- Verification code F9280AD01F · Verify this award
About Park Avenue Complex Commercial Space
Park Avenue specializes in relaxation and landscaping by providing open space and landscaping space, and connects adjacent linear parks. Through this, it was defined as an urban living room concept that is connected to the surrounding residential complex. As a living room in the city, it was planned to be a unique space of everyday life that provides inspiration to users by adding an extraordinary experience to the connection with the park and the relationship between pedestrians and vehicle users. Through this, users can enjoy convenience, taste, and style in their daily lives.
Minwoo Ahn's Complex Commercial Space engages the architectural challenge of contemporary mixed-use urban development where programmatic multiplicity demands spatial and formal clarity, positioning residential sanctuary above commercial vitality within a unified architectural expression that speaks to evolving urban living patterns where convenience, density, and quality converge, the design demonstrates sophisticated understanding of urban fabric assembly where buildings function simultaneously as autonomous architectural statements and contextual ensemble members contributing to streetscape character and neighborhood identity, the compositional achievement emerges through clear hierarchical organization with the commercial podium establishing robust horizontal datum grounding the vertical residential masses, this stratification strategy allowing each program to express its distinct functional and experiential requirements while maintaining overall formal coherence, the material palette reveals refined sensibility balancing warmth and coolness through the interplay of bronze metallic fins suggesting craft tradition and tactile richness against cooler neutral cladding systems suggesting contemporary precision, the vertical bronze louver system demonstrates particular accomplishment providing solar control, visual texture, dimensional relief, and human-scale articulation simultaneously, transforming functional necessity into expressive architectural character, the central sculptural canopy element functions as urban marker and experiential threshold, its geometric bronze paneling and integrated chromatic lighting creating memorable place identity while signaling primary access, this gesture suggesting influence from architectural traditions where entrance receives ceremonial emphasis, the hexagonal tessellation pattern perhaps evoking natural geometries or contemporary parametric design vocabularies, the magenta-violet uplighting introducing unexpected chromatic vitality energizing the otherwise restrained neutral palette and creating nocturnal visual drama that enhances wayfinding and urban animation, the ground-level transparency maximizes visual and physical permeability between interior commercial spaces and public sidewalk realm, supporting pedestrian engagement and commercial vitality essential to successful mixed-use environments, this transparency tradition extending from modernist glass-wall aesthetics celebrating openness and dematerialization while serving contemporary retail imperatives for visibility and invitation, the asymmetrical tower placement creates dynamic rather than static composition, avoiding rigid bilateral symmetry while maintaining overall balance, the spatial relationships between masses generating interstitial outdoor spaces and varied facade exposures, the careful attention to streetscape integration including generous sidewalk width, street tree placement, and hardscape detailing suggests holistic urban design thinking where architecture extends responsibility beyond property line to encompass pedestrian experience and public realm quality, the rendering technique itself merits recognition for atmospheric sophistication balancing photorealistic material representation with subtle environmental effects including diffused sky gradation, ambient atmospheric haze, and nuanced lighting conditions that suggest specific temporal moment, the human figures and vehicular traffic animating the scene without overwhelming architectural subject, this achievement demonstrates the complex challenge of architectural representation where sufficient contextual detail creates believability while maintaining focus on architectural proposition, the work invites viewers to consider how contemporary architecture negotiates between commercial imperatives and residential dignity, between transparency and privacy, between repetition necessary for construction efficiency and variation necessary for visual interest, between building as isolated object and building as urban fabric contributor, how can architectural design create environments where commercial energy and residential tranquility not merely coexist but mutually enhance, where density serves community rather than merely maximizing development potential, where material choice and detailing elevate everyday urban experience into something approaching delight?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- A small open space and landscaping space were created to specialize in self-relaxation and landscaping, and a linear park passing through the subway station was connected. This was further expanded to define the entire surrounding residential complex as a huge living room. As a living room in the city, the connection to the park and the image of the relationship between pedestrians and vehicle users were interpreted as a character using the keywords, unusual and planned as a unique space of everyday life that would provide inspiration to users.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Site area: 8,400m2, Building area: 5,725m2, Building height: 69m, Size: B5F-15F, 1F-4F 209 stores
- Tags
- Shopping mall, Mixed use, Lifestyle, Park
- Production Technology
- In the case of the first floor, customers coming from the street influenced the potential space, and the floor fountain and rotating swing served as interesting elements for customers coming from the park. To attract visitors, attractions were placed at both entrances, and a center with a house garden concept where children could stay, run, and rest was placed in the center. If the first floor was a flat scenario that considered the relationship between the limited landscape and the surrounding environment, the second to fourth floors were a vertical scenario to strengthen connectivity between floors. To emphasize a unique experience through the specialized design of the atrium section, large media poles were planned on all floors so that images connected through each floor become characters in the environment.
- Design Challenge
- Neighborhood shopping malls within apartment complexes are becoming larger and more complex, and at the same time, theme designs are being introduced. In addition to the exterior design, we paid attention to functional programs that could provide convenience to tenants and nearby latecomers. For example, residents in the back of the neighborhood could naturally enter the shopping mall, stay there, and relax by creating a passageway through the interior of a commercial facility or connecting it to a park.
- Project Duration
- Jingeon District, Dasan-do, Gyeonggi-do is located in a practical urban living area where you can reach Seoul in less than 20 minutes through Dasan Station, located on the extension of Subway Line 8. It is a strategic base that serves as a point of contact with parks, district central roads, and central commercial districts. facility. Design originally began in August 2020 and was completed in February 2022. Construction is scheduled to begin in August 2021 and be completed in April 2024.
- Operation Flow
- The focus was on the trend of smaller living spaces enjoyed exclusively by individuals and the high density of work spaces experienced on the way to work. We decided to expand the concept of the living room by providing a high ceiling and a comfortable environment for residents living in a small exclusive space, and by creating a large middle space where they can relax and stay as if it were their own courtyard. In addition, in order to naturally attract park users, public items such as floor fountains and rotating tables were placed to evoke the stuffiness and dryness of everyday life through a unique experience.
- Research
- Korean Journal of Landscape Architecture Vol.48 No.5 (2020, 10), Youngjun Choi: Trends in Korean outdoor space design. As the importance and function of outdoor spaces in commercial complexes expands, a variety of activities and participation experiences are supported. As the connection between indoor and outdoor spaces is strengthened, outdoor elements are being actively introduced indoors. Improve amenities.
- Inspiration
- Mixed Contemporary, which has scenes where the daily lives of various modern people intersect with each other, can be said to be a living room in the city. On top of that, it is a space with taste and cool based on a premium based on convenience such as comfort linked to nature, inspirational non routine space experiences, and relaxation in it, as well as a living room in the city.
- Image Credits
- Image #1, 2, 3, 4, 5: J Road
Colors of Park Avenue Complex Commercial Space
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G0E23 ShopGrand Interview about Park Avenue Complex Commercial Space
First, we focused on the residential environment of 20,000 apartments surrounding the site, and Park Avenue will be located at the center of it. We interpreted the residential environment around here as each room in the house, and derived the concept that Park Avenue functions as a living room at the center. This is an interpretation of the concept of the flat functional organization of a house expanded to an urban concept. In order to expand the function of this living room, we planned it with the idea of guiding pedestrians to the inner avenue through a passageway for the apartment residents behind, and connecting it to the adjacent neighborhood park.
Park Avenue is a densely populated commercial complex, and there were limitations in terms of the size of the site, such as the obstruction of traffic lines due to its own landscaping and rest areas. Therefore, after analyzing the surrounding environment of the site on a macro level, we found that the adjacent neighborhood park was linearly connected to the nearby subway station, and people mainly approached the subway station through this park. We planned to place the rotating swing and fountain in the closest location to the park, connecting the park and our site, so that people would naturally gather and pedestrians would flow in.
03. Vertical movement is very important for upper-floor tenants in commercial facilities with a high floor area ratio, which are three or more floors. Since the upper floors are mainly visited by users with a purpose, interest and concentration in the commercial environment may decrease. Although it was not realized due to budgetary issues, we proposed media poles or walls so that users can have a consistent experience across all floors. Another thing is that the transportation system on the upper floors should be intuitive so that users can easily reach them without confusion. Therefore, escalators were placed in accordance with the direction of movement from the first to the second floor, and elevators were placed at the entrance to the first-floor commercial area so that users can be transported to all floors efficiently.
In order to bridge the gap between shopping and resting, we studied the types of resting spaces. For example, the path-way type that is easily recognized within the range of vision while walking, and the type where you can stay and rest. This was accompanied by detailed planning such as arranging outdoor furniture at an angle that does not make eye contact with pedestrians, and resting spaces and design elements in appropriate places were placed to maintain the interest of the commercial environment and increase the user's stay time.
The Korean housing market has been gradually becoming smaller due to the increase in single-person households. In other words, the exclusive area used per person in residential spaces has become smaller. We wanted to relieve the stuffiness and provide leisurely rest to users living in these dense and compact urban lives through large spaces such as large spaces and courtyards. Users will have an experience that complements their home through park walks, sightseeing, and comfortable resting spaces. Through this, we hope that the commercial environment will function as a city living room for modern people.
Park Avenue was not able to provide enough outdoor recreation space of its own due to the limited land size. We were able to connect the adjacent linear park and the inner courtyard of the Avenue with play items that children would enjoy, such as a fountain and a swing that are not present in the park. This was planned to bring people together with their children in front of the park-side tenants and allow pedestrians using the park to naturally enter our site.
The architectural language of Park Avenue began with the symbolism of its location as the central commercial block. We wanted to create a façade that would be iconic in both the foreground and the background, unlike the many commercial facilities nearby. We designed it to convey rhythm and distinctive elements according to the speed of approach of pedestrians and vehicles, and through this, we wanted to give it a representative character as a commercial block. Thus, we wanted to draw in the residential complex surrounding the commercial block to this symbolic commercial facility.
Innovative ideas are easily damaged or degraded during the design process for various functional and institutional reasons. As a strategy for a new approach, we adopted the idea when the aesthetic elements match the functional purpose. For example, we applied the separate mass design with the entire curtain wall finish to the park side, and gradually changed the size of the louvers on the façade to convey a sense of rhythm considering the pedestrian's line of sight, but applied the louver design from the second floor, except for the first floor where the exposure should be maximized.
We believe that when a complex commercial facility is combined with content, its function is further enhanced. In addition to simply purchasing goods, users can enhance the quality of their experience through cultural content and rest facilities. They can pursue more diverse satisfaction according to their lifestyles within the commercial facility, and we believe that such a platform can sufficiently function as an urban living room in densely populated urban areas. Therefore, we expect that various platforms specialized for each regional urban environment will emerge in the future.
Modern retail forms are becoming increasingly complex. In that sense, Park Avenue can be said to be a type of general commercial facility with high density. We analyzed the user's approach, the flow of movement within the store, and the user's behavior throughout the process, and studied the necessary design based on the scenario. We believe that sustainable activation can be achieved when design goes beyond simply showing visual elements to users and provides the physical elements necessary for users according to time, place, and situation.