Hyundai Department Store Expands Healing Spaces Applying 'Retail Therapy'

A bird's-eye view of 'Glass House' at Hyundai Department Store Mokdong Branch

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Hyundai Department Store is expanding nature-friendly spaces applying the concept of "retail therapy (healing through shopping)" in response to the "With Corona" era. The plan is to provide rest and healing in life to customers exhausted physically and mentally due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the indoor garden "Sounds Forest" at The Hyundai Seoul, which opened last month, Hyundai Department Store recently introduced the 7th floor of the Mokdong branch as a landscaping space called "Glass Haus." With the concept of "European gardens and greenhouses," the existing cultural hall was transformed into an indoor garden, and an outdoor sky garden was created, covering an area of 2,628㎡ (approximately 800 pyeong). This means that 85% of the entire floor area of the department store is filled with indoor and outdoor landscaping spaces.

The design was handled by the British global design firm CMK (Casper-Mueller-Kneer), which also designed the first floor of The Hyundai Seoul. Fifteen trees and over 30 native plant species were planted in the indoor garden, and the walls of the existing cultural hall were replaced with full glass windows to allow sunlight to enter indoors. To create optimal growing conditions, the floor was raised by 30 cm to provide adequate soil depth, and the ceiling of the Glass Haus was decorated with LED lights to create an atmosphere reminiscent of a greenhouse.

The cultural hall, which used to host events such as performances, plays, and exclusive customer invitation sales events, has been transformed into an indoor garden where anyone can comfortably rest and heal. Inside the indoor garden, a community space called the "Glass Room" (200㎡, approximately 60 pyeong) will also be created for future use as a cultural center lecture room or exhibition space.

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