Gwell Tower: Eroded Matrix - Seoul

This 15-story office tower with 10,200㎡ of floor area functions as a tower prototype in an urban environment where a row of towers faces a wide main street and pedestrian traffic on one side and low-density, low-rise residential urban fabric on the other side, a contrasting urban condition that is quite common in Asian metropolises.



On the southern side where the tower confronts low-rise, small-scale urban fabric, it mimics this spatial quality on its façade as if this horizontal urban fabric had been turned vertical and become tower. As a result, each office unit has an outdoor space, creating a unique “eroded” appearance in an otherwise very simple glass curtain wall tower.



A variety of trees will be planted in the 32 outdoor gardens, giving each its own characteristic. Together, the individual gardens will create the effect of a larger vertical garden 65 meters tall climbing the building.



The northern side of the building facing the main road is mainly composed of bold vertical stripes revealing vertical movements within the building, such as viewing elevators, the stairs, mechanicals shafts and electronic signage to reflect contrasting urban scale and speed.




Project : Gwell Tower: Eroded Matrix
Design Period : 2005.7 – 2006.1
Construction Period : 2006.2 – 2008.10
Type : Office
Location : Seoul, Korea
Site Area : 1082.2 ㎡
Site Coverage Area : 510.2 ㎡
Total Floor Area : 10278.8 ㎡
Building-to-Land Ratio : 59.99%
Floor Area Ratio : 799.76%
Building Scope : 15F, B5
Structure : RC
Finish : Curtain Wall
Architects : Mass Studies
Minsuk Cho, Kisu Park, Joungwon Lee, Weekyun Yoo, Hyunjung Kim, Jongseo Kim, Joonhee Lee, Taehoon Hwang, Wonjin Kim, Daewoong Kim, Dongchul Yang, Bumhyun Chun, Bumhee Han, Jieun Lee, Jisoo Kim

Structural Engineer : TEO Structure
MEP Engineer : HANA Consulting & Engineers
Civil Engineer : CG E & C
Construction : Shin Young Dongsung
Client : Shin Young Dongsung

Mass Studies