Heatherwick Studio has unveiled its ambitious design for the renovation of the Daegyo Apartments in Seoul, marking its first residential venture in South Korea. This community-driven project seeks to transform four existing residential buildings from 1975 into a distinctive and appealing character, moving away from Seoul's typical monotonous apartment blocks. The design, revealed to the residents' union, emphasizes collaboration and incorporates feedback from a comprehensive survey of Seoul residents who expressed a desire for unique and texturally rich homes, rejecting the blandness of current high-rise structures.
The redevelopment, situated near Hangang Park along the Han River, will replace the original 576 units with approximately 900 new residences. It introduces a multifaceted living environment with four residential buildings, a sky garden, and an expansive public ground-floor area. The plan integrates various community facilities, including children's play zones, sports amenities, and senior welfare services. The landscape design features stepped gardens, sheltered pathways, and sunken courtyards, strategically designed to buffer the development from surrounding traffic, creating a serene and integrated urban oasis. This project reflects a commitment to rethinking urban residential living, aiming to enhance daily life through thoughtful design and community engagement.
Transforming Seoul's Residential Landscape
Heatherwick Studio's latest project in Seoul, the Daegyo Apartments redevelopment, signifies a bold departure from conventional residential architecture in the city. Unveiled to the Yeouido Daegyo Residents' Union, this initiative is the studio's debut residential undertaking in South Korea, following a community-led redevelopment model first announced in mid-2025. The project's genesis lies in a comprehensive 2025 Humanise Campaign study, which highlighted Seoul residents' strong desire for distinctive and texturally rich homes, with a significant majority expressing dissatisfaction with the perceived 'boring and soulless' nature of existing apartment complexes. This direct feedback has shaped a design philosophy that champions originality and a profound connection to the local environment, aiming to create living spaces that are both unique and deeply integrated into the community's fabric.
The transformation involves replacing 576 units from 1975 with approximately 900 new homes, conceptualized as a vibrant community hub rather than just a housing complex. The design incorporates four residential buildings, a sky garden offering panoramic views, and a generously sized ground-floor area accessible to both residents and the wider public. Beyond housing, the development is rich in community facilities, featuring dedicated play areas for children, state-of-the-art sports amenities, and essential welfare services tailored for senior citizens. The landscape design is meticulously planned with stepped gardens, protected walkways, and recessed courtyards. These elements not only enhance the aesthetic appeal but also serve a practical purpose by creating a buffer against urban traffic, lifting parts of the site edges to foster tranquility and privacy within the bustling city context. Stuart Wood from Heatherwick Studio emphasized the project's ambition to fundamentally redefine apartment living in Seoul, aiming to create environments that enrich everyday life and break away from the 'endless repetitions of anonymous high-rise blocks'. This vision is a testament to collaborative design, bringing together community aspirations with innovative architectural solutions to cultivate a new paradigm for urban residential development.
Innovative Design and Community Integration
The core of Heatherwick Studio's approach to the Daegyo Apartments redevelopment is an unwavering commitment to innovative design that deeply resonates with community needs and the natural surroundings. Drawing heavily from the mountainous terrain that encircles Seoul, the architectural design features distinctive undulating rooflines, echoing the city's natural topography. This organic aesthetic is a direct response to a 2025 Humanise Campaign study, where 97% of Seoul residents voiced their aversion to the monotonous and 'suffocating' character of typical apartment complexes. The design's natural forms and textures are a deliberate effort to counteract this sentiment, providing homes that are visually engaging and emotionally uplifting. The collaborative spirit of the project is further highlighted by the input from over 600 union members, whose collective vision has been instrumental in shaping the final design, as affirmed by Ms. Heesun Chung, the chairperson of the Yeouido Daegyo Apartment Redevelopment Association.
Strategically located by Hangang Park along the Han River, the redevelopment project goes beyond mere housing, envisioning a vibrant ecosystem that supports diverse community life. The blueprint outlines four residential structures, a communal sky garden that offers residents a green retreat above the cityscape, and an expansive ground-level area designed for public interaction and enjoyment. This integrated approach ensures that the development is not an isolated entity but a contributing part of the broader urban fabric. The inclusion of modern community facilities such, as thoughtfully designed children's play zones, comprehensive sports amenities, and specialized welfare services for the elderly, underscores a commitment to fostering a rich and inclusive community environment. Furthermore, the innovative landscape design, characterized by stepped gardens, sheltered pedestrian pathways, and serene sunken courtyards, serves a dual purpose. It not only creates aesthetically pleasing outdoor spaces but also strategically shields the residential areas from the adjacent traffic, elevating sections of the site to enhance privacy and reduce noise pollution. This holistic design philosophy, championed by Stuart Wood of Heatherwick Studio, aims to instigate a fundamental reevaluation of apartment living in Seoul, emphasizing the creation of living spaces that are not only functional but also deeply connected to nature, community, and individual well-being, moving decisively away from the homogeneity of high-rise developments.
