Skip To Main Content
Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

Order Issue

A Product of

Vertical Living In A Single Residence In Seoul
HomesKirsty Sier

Vertical Living In A Single Residence In Seoul

Other

Five Storey House by stpmj is a provocative exception to Seoul’s architectural norms, where vertical living apartment reigns.


Interesting times are afoot in Seoul. Only established as a city in 1948 when South Korea was formalised, the intervening 70 or so years have seen non-stop development, including the art of vertical living, transform the sprawling metropolis into one of the most modernised cities in Asia – and one of the top five wealthiest cities in the world.

These days, Seoul is wanting for nothing. The city is overflowing with music, technology, fashion, design and astounding feats of architecture. The only thing it seems to be missing is space – and particularly space to develop more traditional forms of residences, which typically have the luxury of larger floorplans.

Five Storey House Vertical Living stpmj CC Bae Jihun parking

When challenges arise, good architects get creative. In a city that has a stunning lack of houses – eschewing low-lying dwelling in favour of sky-scraping apartment buildings – the former typology has had to adapt to fit into shrinking blocks. When Seoul- and New York-based architecture firm stpmj were brought on to create a new residence for a private client in the western suburb of Naebalsan-dong in Seoul, the only way to go was up.

Five Storey House draws the best from both typologies, both traditional housing and apartment living, but achieves the kinds of diverse spatial qualities that cannot be achieved from the latter. In less than 100 square metres of property area, stpmj created a vertical living home over (as the name would suggest) five storeys, with different flooring zones assigned different uses.

Five Storey House Vertical Living stpmj CC Bae Jihun east entrance

Rather than the purely functional outcome that one might expect from such a tall, skinny house, there is plenty of room for luxury. Built for five family members – a husband, wife and three children – it contains levels specifically set aside for leisure, including a studio for the husband’s furniture-making hobby and a multi-play room for the young girls.

Despite between built in a narrow slot between existing buildings, the residence feels airy and spacious. Light floods through the central grid of the building due to a staircase stacked to filter sunlight from the top of the apartment downwards. On the two denser sides of the building – which face neighbouring apartments – openness and privacy are equally maintained with tightly perforated brickwork that obscures views and drinks natural light.

Five Storey House Vertical Living stpmj CC Bae Jihun terrace

The sloped vertical plane – which shrinks the floorplan towards the upper levels, resulting in a pointed building design – informs the function of each space. While the family areas are on the lower, more spacious levels, bedrooms are relegated to the higher, smaller floors. This reduced space is more than made up for with far-reaching views over the neighbourhood.

stmpj
stpmj.com

Photography by Bae Jihun

Five Storey House Vertical Living stpmj CC Bae Jihun living
Five Storey House Vertical Living stpmj CC Bae Jihun mini library
Five Storey House Vertical Living stpmj CC Bae Jihun fifth floor bedroom
Five Storey House Vertical Living stpmj CC Bae Jihun east exterior
Five Storey House Vertical Living stpmj CC Bae Jihun birds eye view

We think you might also like Tree Houses in Australia


About the Author

Kirsty Sier

Tags

Bae JihunbrickCity LivingFive Storey HouseKirsty SierResidential Architectureseoulsouth koreastpmjurban


Related Projects
Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

Order Issue