Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

This Slender Home in Seoul Has One Room on Each of Its Four Levels

This Slender Home in Seoul Has One Room on Each of Its Four Levels

Architect TaeByoung Yim designs a 570-square-foot home with private space for studying and room to entertain.

Clad in black-painted stucco, this 570-square-foot house in Seoul, South Korea, is compact yet flexible. Architect TaeByoung Yim, of Mundoehoje and Studio Bigmimi, designed the four-level residence for JaeHoon Han in the district of Haebangchon, at the foot of Namsan Mountain. "It’s a quiet neighborhood where small houses and commercial buildings are closely gathered," Yim says.



Architect TaeByoung Yim designed a compact residence in Seoul, Korea, with designated space for studying and entertaining.l

According to the architect, Han, an adjunct professor and retired CFO, sought to build a second home in Haebangchon as a retreat from his busy life in Gangnam, where he resides full-time with his wife and two daughters. "He needed a place where he could focus on his writing and research, but he also wanted an elegant house, where friends and family would be able to visit." Yim says. "He was drawn to this location because it provides easy access to anywhere in Seoul."



The exterior of the tall and narrow home is sided with black-painted stucco.



Visitors ascend a concrete staircase and pass through a metal gate to enter the home. The materiality lends the home cool texture and a sleek aesthetic.

The lot previously held a dilapidated single-story house clad with wood. "Originally, the client intended to remodel the wood house and make no major changes to its frame," Yim says. "However, the old house was empty for a long time, and there were structural issues." Han and Yim opted to tear down the old home and imagine a new design that would accommodate Han’s desire for a quiet space to study and a sophisticated place to entertain.



An open-plan kitchen/dining area showcases black granite flooring, a concrete ceiling, and wood paneling on one of the walls.



A glass section reveals stones outside, connecting the home to nature.

The lot is small and narrow, so Yim organized the rooms vertically, creating boundaries between the public and private areas. "It was impossible to arrange the necessary functions horizontally," Yim says. "I decided to lay out one program or function on each floor."



The office on the second level is outfitted with a built-in desk and bookcase that spans the length of the walls.

Yim arranged the kitchen and the dining room on the first level. The study/office is on the second level, the third level holds the living room, and the bedroom is located in the attic.

"One of the main features of the first floor is that people can enter with their shoes on, because the floor is black granite," he says. "Generally, in Korean culture, you take your shoes off when you enter the house."

The second and third levels have oak floors, and the attic is outfitted with tatami, a type of straw mat flooring used in traditional Japanese-style rooms. "The wood is warm and soft, and tatami is [even] softer to the touch," Yim says. "We valued the floors as the most important interior finishing materials and assigned different textures so that the feeling gradually softens as you move from public to private space."



A loft-like sleeping area on the fourth level lies just above the living room, which is located on the third level. Glass doors open to terraces on both floors and flood the rooms with natural light.



The loft-style sleeping area is finished with tatami flooring.

A bright-white cantilevered staircase crafted with finger joint–style ten-millimeter steel plates links the third and fourth levels. "We wanted the material to be as minimal and light as it could be," says Yim. The first, second, and third levels are joined by an oak staircase.



A white-painted steel-plate staircase leads from the third floor to the attic level.



A wall on the second level features a built-in bookcase with a reading nook.

Yim’s design wastes no space, and focuses on adaptability. "The first floor of this house is designed for the owner to use how he wants," the architect says. "It can be closed off or left more open, connecting the house to the street, the neighborhood, and the city. There’s lots of potential to change the use, depending on lifestyle. The first floor can be used as a private dining restaurant or a shared kitchen space, while the rest of the house can be rented out. The final design really reflects the taste and the lifestyle of the client, who has a very flexible character."



Tiny Second Home in Urban elevation drawing

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Budapest Central European Fashion Week Kicks Off
U.S. Celebrates Labor Day
Hungarian National Team Captain Scores Epic Goal
×