OBBA 서울 스튜디오는 최근, 신혼부부를 위한 주택을 완성했다. 이곳은 벤치처럼 두겹으로 되어 있는 1층과, 직사각형 모양의 계단, 그리고 애묘를 위한 잠자리를 특징으로 꼽을 수 있다.
의뢰인은 아파트와 다가구 주택들이 즐비한 이곳에서, 뭔가 대체방안을 생각해 내고 싶었다. 젊은 부부들이 주택 가격과 일반적으로 표준화된 선택사항 안에서 한계가 있었기에, 기본 필수 사항을 만족시키면서도 하나의 삶을 시작하는 방법에 대한 기본적인 질문들에도 이번 프로젝트의 주택 건설에는 고려해야했다.
현대적이면서도, 풍성한 삶 - 이러한 컨셉 하에, “50m2”라고 이름을 지어진 20 평방미터 남짓의 이 주택은 평균적으로 신혼 부부가 선택할 수 있는 집의 규모보다도 더 작다고 할 수 있다. 이 곳에 총 3층 구조의 주택을 지었는데, 부엌과 거실은 2층에, 그 위는 공부나 영화를 볼 수 있는 공간을 두었다. 2개의 침실과 하나의 욕실은 1층에 구성되어 있으며, 3층 모두에는 발코니와 테라스가 있다.
Seoul studio OBBA has completed a house for a pair of newlyweds, featuring a floor that doubles as a bench, a retractable staircase and a dedicated loft for a pet cat.
Architects: OBBA – Sojung Lee, Sangjoon Kwak
Design team: Jaeho Kim, Daae Kim, Hojae Lee, Sojae Ahn
Construction: TCM Global
Photography is by Kyungsub Shin.
The residence was conceived as an alternative to the apartment blocks and multi-tenant buildings that commonly become the first homes of young married couples in the South Korean capital.
"The standardised typology and over-inflated housing price limit the parameters of choice in choosing a house for a young couple," explained architect Sojung Lee, one of the two founders of OBBA.
"The clients asked us to build a house based upon their fundamental questions about how to sftart a life together, satisfying the basic essentials," he continued. "They wanted a modest but plentiful life."
Named 50m2 house, the compact property is more than 20 square metres smaller than the average newlyweds' home. It is organised over three main storeys, but there are intermediate levels between floors.
There are also several unconventional details that would have been difficult to install in a typical apartment unit – the most noticeable being a dedicated staircase and loft for the clients' pet cat.
Appearing at first glance to be a long and elaborate shelf, the feline-width staircase winds up around the redundant space above the main entrance and stairs. At the end, a generous ledge allows the cat to survey the comings and goings of its owners.
"The cat loves the space a lot and uses the staircase and plays there a lot," Lee told Dezeen. "The cat is used to sitting and looking outside waiting for the clients until they come back from the work, and welcome guests from the staircase when they comes in."
The kitchen and living room occupy the middle floor, to ensure they both receive plenty of natural light.
Rather than separating the rooms by walls, OBBA chose to set the living room three steps higher. This arrangement allows the kitchen counter to also be used as a desk or dining table, if residents sit down on the edge of the living room floor.
Above the kitchen is a loft used by the clients for studying or watching films, which can be accessed using a wooden staircase that extends out from a wall beside the kitchen. When closed, it becomes part of a bookcase slotted behind.
A pair of bedrooms and a bathroom are located on the ground floor. There are also balconies and terraces on all three levels.
"The issue was to conjure up a small but plentiful spatiality within the modest amount of construction budget," said Lee. "The house is small but every nook and corner of the space is efficiently used."
The house is located in Gaemimaeul – which translates as "ant village" and features a mix building types arranged across steep slopes.
"The walls of this old shanty town are decorated with paintings in attempt to embellish the area, and this exudes a mysterious atmosphere," said Lee.
In keeping with this hodgepodge of structures, the house's exterior resembles two buildings fused together. The first is a low-rise rectilinear block with white walls, and the second is a small black house with a gabled roof.
There is a four-metre change in level across the site, and the house sits halfway between. For this reason, the main entrance is positioned between the lower and middle floors.
A retaining wall of grey blocks wraps around the site perimeter, presenting a blank canvas that could someday be painted to match its neighbours.
Sojung Lee and architect partner Sangjoon Kwak founded OBBA, or Office for Beyond Boundaries Architecture, in 2012. Other projects by the studio include an apartment building featuring a semi-outdoor stairwell screened behind a section of open brickwork.
from dezeen