BrazilArup supports development of Amorepacific headquarters in Seoul
The new headquarters of South Korean based beauty care conglomerate Amorepacific have recently opened in Seoul, with the project supported by Arup in conjunction with David Chipperfield Architects.
The new Amorepacific building, which is a cube approximately 100 meters in width and height, offers a host of sustainability features, maximising the use of natural light and solar energy. Arup and architectural firm David Chipperfield Architects worked together in its development, with Arup focused on the structural engineering work.
Amorepacific, a beauty care conglomerate, opened its new headquarters in Seoul on June 16th. The building was developed over a three-year period and covers around 30 storeys and a total floor area of 216,000 square meters. The building aesthetics are described by its architects David Chipperfield Architects (DCA), as ‘abstract and gestural’ with overflowing hanging gardens and wide-open spaces.
Aside from DCA, Arup contributed to the design and development of the building – which is a single clear volume with a layout centred around a central courtyard with three openings to maximise the natural light and ventilation to the building itself. The central space opens through three large segments to views of Yongsan Park and the regional mountains.
Arup was responsible for structural engineering for the project, which covered everything from fire, wind and acoustics to the building’s physics, façade and lighting design. The firm, in concert with DCA, designed and developed the unique skin of the building, which integrates shading of the internal spaces as well as ventilation – leveraging vertical fins that maximise natural light penetration while controlling heat gain.
The building also features access walkways through green-spaces, combining reductions in energy consumption with improvements to staff well-being. And aside from the workspace provided to the company, the building offers a museum, a large auditorium, a library, and a childcare facility, as well as restaurants, bars and cafés.
Commenting on the project, Eva-Maria Hinkers, Director, Arup Germany said; “With our holistic approach, we developed a building for Amorepacific which optimally incorporates the climatic and cultural characteristics of Seoul, with architecture and engineering perfectly complementing each other.”
Christoph Felger, Partner and Design Director at David Chipperfield Architects in Berlin further remarked on the design; “The concept of a high-rise courtyard building – offering a silhouette and more importantly a place to be – takes reference from Korea’s rich and versatile architectural heritage. Spatial and social adaptation of this cultural knowledge ensures that the building provides more than a company workplace, but rather a public destination for all, bridging the past with the present and thereby establishing an identity that is rooted in its time, place and history.”
