Seoul City to Open 'AI Anchor Facility' in Yangjae R&D Innovation District in 2022

An Annex Building with a Total Floor Area of 10,220㎡ on the Quality Testing Center Site... Core Facility for AI Development, Education, and Collaboration
International Design Competition Winning Entry Revealed... Optimized for Research and Support, Housing Over 410 Startups and Researchers

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] An anchor facility to intensively foster the artificial intelligence (AI) industry will be established on the site of the annex building of the Quality Testing Center within the Yangjae R&D Innovation District in Seoul (land area 5,098.7㎡). The facility will have a total floor area of 10,220㎡, with one basement floor and seven above-ground floors, and is scheduled to open in 2022.

The newly established anchor facility is expected to become a core support facility for AI companies, not only incubating and educating AI startups but also facilitating collaboration with AI research institutes and companies in the Yangjae area. More than 410 related startups and researchers are expected to move in.

The existing annex building of the Quality Testing Center (1,098.2㎡) will be remodeled and used as education, seminar, and rest spaces.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government conducted an international design competition to create a space optimized for AI research and support, while moving away from standardized research and workspaces to allow users to unleash creative ideas.

On the 27th, the city announced the final selection of the winning design, "Mega Floor" (STPMJ Architects, led by Lee Mi-jung), from the international design competition. The winning team will be granted priority negotiation rights for planning, intermediate, and detailed design contracts. A total of 46 entries (40 domestic, 6 international) participated in the final round of the competition.

The winning design, Mega Floor, presents various types of shared research spaces under the concept of a "shared office generating synergy." The first and second floors are designed as open spaces for AI-related companies and research institutes, featuring open lounges, maker spaces & showrooms, management consulting, and cafes, allowing a diverse range of people in the area to use the space freely.

On floors 3 to 7, where resident researchers work, each floor includes meeting rooms, collaboration spaces, rest areas, and open kitchens. By providing spaces for focused work alongside areas for free exchange of ideas and collaboration, the design is praised for presenting a new vision of R&D space that breaks away from conventional workspaces.

Another notable feature is the active incorporation of the surrounding outstanding natural environment, such as Yangjaecheon Stream and Umyeonsan Mountain, into the building’s interior. Various outdoor spaces are created on each floor, and instead of solid walls, the design increases the proportion of transparent glass walls to allow views of the outside from anywhere within the building. These outdoor spaces are also visible from outside the building.

Park Heung-gyun, CEO of Seoul Architecture and chair of the judging panel, said, "Among the high-quality entries, this design was seen as a good type that can be developed as a reference for future R&D centers by accommodating the existing building and surrounding environment while presenting a well-considered floor plan."

The Seoul Metropolitan Government aims to complete the basic and detailed designs by November, start construction in December, and complete the building by November 2022.

Meanwhile, this competition was conducted as a fully paperless "digital competition" from participant registration to submission and final judging. The final evaluation was held as an open review in a "digital judging room," where all participants could observe the process. Kim Tae-hyung, Director of the Urban Space Improvement Division of Seoul City, said, "We held the international design competition with the idea that architectural spaces must change to break away from rigid, efficiency-first research and workspaces and to allow free and creative idea generation. Since the plan attempts to place spaces where researchers can focus on their work alongside spaces for free communication, collaboration, and rest, we hope it will become a new type of future R&D center space."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.