SONGDO MADANG

location Yeonsu-gu, Incheon-si, South Korea

date 2022
client  Architectural Division of Yeonsu-gu office, Incheon-si

surface 8000 m² 

status International Design Competition / Finalist
design team Studio Akkerhuis + ArchiWorkshop

Located in the heart of a vast new residential complex, surrounded by various high-rises and large-scale infrastructure, the Youth Center has been conceived as an islet of urbanity, a vibrant public space where students can express their individuality while sharing and meeting with the greater community.

With terraces offering expansive views to the city, the Youth Center, the building expresses a youthful energy through its asymmetric and dynamic form that unfolds the various programs around a central courtyard open to the whole neighborhood.

The dynamic movement of the terraces invites visitors to travel up through the building. Glimpses of people playing sports, reading, dancing, and practicing music accompany them along the way.

The structure of the building is made of a steel framework with collaborative metal form slabs and a concrete core for the tower. It is based on a 8.10m grid allowing maximum flexibility for interior activity and parking layout.

The facade is conceived as a modular system of prefabricated panels assembled with wooden vertical louvers frames offering the esthetic qualities of a vibrating facade with subtle transparencies all the while providing efficient protection against summer heat gain.

While the wood material gives a warm and welcoming feeling to the youth center, the contrasting white structural framework lightly underlines the constructive logic of the building.