Seoul City to Build Joint Building for '119 Safety Center + Research Facility' at Garak Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Seoul City plans to construct a joint government building housing both the 'Garak 119 Safety Center' and the 'Gangnam Agricultural and Marine Products Inspection Office,' currently located separately within Garak Market, by September 2023, in connection with the Garak Market modernization project.

On the 15th, Seoul City unveiled the final winning design for the Garak Market joint government building design competition. The winning entry, titled "Adaptation and Coexistence, and Organic Connection with the City," was submitted by Void Architect Architects Office. The winning team will be granted priority negotiation rights for the planning, intermediate, and detailed design contracts. The city aims to complete the basic and detailed designs by November next year, commence construction in December, and complete the building by September 2023.

The joint government building will be located on the south side of Garak Market's North Gate 3, adjacent to Yangjae-daero, on a site of 850㎡ with a total floor area of 3,552.5㎡, spanning from one basement level to six above-ground floors. The lower floors (1st and 2nd) will house the Garak 119 Safety Center, while the upper floors (3rd to 6th) will accommodate the research facilities of the Gangnam Agricultural and Marine Products Inspection Office. The facility will also accommodate about 40 firefighting personnel and approximately 30 researchers from the Seoul Institute of Health and Environment.

The winning design considered connectivity with surrounding buildings and urban facilities and proposed the concept of a "public building with an open three-dimensional garden for everyone" by creating a linear green space.

The joint government building was designed in a rectangular shape to continue the external features of nearby existing buildings characterized by white rectangular forms and ramps. On the 3rd floor, located between the two facilities, shared spaces such as a civil service office, cafeteria, and rest areas are arranged, with a green pedestrian path directly connecting the ground level to the 3rd floor, embodying the public value that a public building should have.

Additionally, a detailed floor plan and section layout were proposed to ensure that the movement paths of employees working in the lower floors (Garak 119 Safety Center) and upper floors (Gangnam Agricultural and Marine Products Inspection Office) do not overlap.

Professor Janghwan Cheon of Kyung Hee University, chair of the judging panel, stated, "The core evaluation criterion was how public architecture responds to its surroundings and what a suitable public architectural complex should be for this site." He praised the winning design, saying, "It went beyond the design competition guidelines by proposing the publicness, communication, openness, and connectivity that public architecture should embody, highlighting the architect's philosophy."

Meanwhile, this competition was conducted as a fully paperless 'digital competition' from participant registration to submission and final judging. The final judging was held publicly in a digital judging room where all participants could observe. Interested participants and citizens who could not attend on-site watched the event via real-time broadcasts on platforms such as YouTube.

Perspective view of 'Adaptation and Coexistence, and Organic Connection with the City' by Void Architects, the winning design of the Garak Market Joint Office Building design competition.

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