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Pangyo House

Using multilayered terrace platforms, just like in town squares, Jo Jinman Architects designed a house for a three generation family of eight people, that required private spaces and pleasant views.

Designed by Jo Jinman Architects, Pangyo Layered Terrace House is a residential building for a three generations family of eight members, located in a housing development district, about fifteen minutes drive away from Seoul’s downtown.

Based on some initial restriction such as the site area of 12x12 meters, the local planning guideline with rigid volumetric requirenments and the future flexibility of the family members, the house is made to function like a small city. The site faces the road on the South–West side, while the rest is closely surrounded by adjacent houses.

After careful analysis of daylight and family composition, the proposal was to make two blocks of southward structures with a void in the middle in order to accommodate four different domains, three private for each generation and a shared one. Each domain has different heights and integrate into a single landscape through the main patio.

Seventeen different rooms are displayed around an empty void that unfolds from the ground floor patio through the second level terrace to the roof terrace, embracing daylight and the dynamic nature outside.

Five bedrooms are located in between four outdoor platforms creating a spatial expansion that combines together patios and rooms, which are always visually connected with each other. Some internal windows are designed for inner communication, meanwhile the main stairs are much wider than its ordinary uses not only for seamless vertical circulation from the entrance to the roof terrace, but also because it works as an extensive living room or reading area. Just like in many public town squares, the architects used multi layered platforms in the heart of the house for common gatherings that can be filled with various natural livingscapes.