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Seongbuk Gate Hills by Joel Sanders Architect and Haeahn Architecture

By Holly von Huene

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American and Korean architectural firms Joel Sanders Architect and Haeahn Architecture have created the Seongbuk Gate Hills project in Seoul, South Korea.

The project consists of twelve 3,000 square foot contemporary homes which are placed in a staggered arrangement, providing each unit with unobstructed views.

Seongbuk Gate Hills by Joel Sanders Architect and Haeahn Architecture:

“Located in the exclusive district of Seongbuk-dong in Seoul, this enclave of 12 private houses is designed to take advantage of its steeply sloping site so that every residence provides generous outdoor space and panoramic views of the majestic landscape. From the scale of the site plan to individual units, the project weaves together building and landscape, natural and synthetic materi- als, and indoor and outdoor spaces.

The project’s design updates the ancient principle of the “borrowed view,” a compositional tech- nique employed by Asian gardeners to create an impression of continuity between private gardens in the foreground and natural features in the distance. The staggered arrangement of L-shaped dwellings ensures that each unit enjoys unobstructed southern views of a verdant hillside, framed in the foreground by its neighbors’ planted green roof. All roofs are planted with a gridded pat- tern of four different species of sedum. When viewed from the national park across the valley, the pattern merges to form a dynamic composition that changes with the seasons, blending into the densely wooded mountains surrounding the site.”

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Site plan

Photos by: ChaiSoo Ok

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About Holly von Huene

Holly is a freelance writer living in Toronto. She has written for HomeDSGN for more than 3 years and contributed architecture, interior design and lifestyle content for a number of other publications, including DesignBoom, Apartment Therapy and ArchDaily. Learn more about HomeDSGN's Editorial Process.

2 thoughts on “Seongbuk Gate Hills by Joel Sanders Architect and Haeahn Architecture”

  1. Quite amazing. A nicely designed spacious house, extravagent views and neighbours. I don’t think it gets much better than this. Being in an estate with neighbours really makes these houses become homes.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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