'Space Sallim' and 'POSCO Humans Office Building' Win Seoul Universal Design Award

Announcement of 8 Award-Winning Works

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 15th, Seoul City announced that it selected the women and family complex facility ‘Space Sallim’ in Seoul and ‘POSCO Humans Office Building’ in Pohang, Gyeongbuk, as the grand prize winners of the 1st Seoul Universal Design Awards.

The Seoul Universal Design Awards were established by Seoul City to promote the spread of universal design and to drive the advancement of related industries. The award aims to discover architectural works, spaces, services, and policy ideas that reflect designs where all people are respected, encourage the achievements of individuals and organizations contributing to urban innovation, and spread an inclusive design culture nationwide.

A nationwide contest was held from July to August, receiving a total of 40 submissions from across the country. A panel of universal design expert judges and citizen judges selected the final winners through about a month of document review, on-site inspections, and final evaluations. The main judging criteria were Seoul Universal Design’s ▲Unrestricted Sharing ▲Stable Balance ▲Respected Diversity ▲Innovative Change ▲Safe Space. Works meeting these shared values were selected based on the scoring criteria for each contest category.

Seoul City awarded the grand prize in the public sector of the ‘UD Environment Creation’ category to the women and family complex facility Space Sallim (UnitUA Architects), and in the private sector to the POSCO Humans Office Building Expansion Universal Design (POSCO A&C Architects), granting the Seoul Mayor’s Award to each.

The grand prize for the public sector in the ‘UD Environment Creation’ category went to ‘Barrier-Free Marine National Park: Establishment of Barrier-Free Exploration Infrastructure’ (Korea National Park Service, Hallyeohaesang National Park East Office), and the private sector grand prize was awarded to ‘Seocho Grand Xi Elysian Yard’ (Landscape Design Diwon, GS Construction). The Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairman’s Award, the sponsor institution, was presented.

Additionally, ‘Amazing Playground Creation Project’ (Seodaemun-gu Office Green City Division) and ‘Universal Design House for All, Suyu’ (Universal Housing Cooperative, Sosol Architects) were selected as excellence award winners and received the Seoul Universal Design Center Director’s Award. In the ‘Service and Policy’ category, the grand prize was awarded to the ‘Universal Tourism Environment Creation Project’ (Seoul Tourism Foundation), receiving the Seoul Mayor’s Award, and the excellence award went to ‘Interspecies Design’ (Interspecies Design), which received the Seoul Universal Design Center Director’s Award.

Meanwhile, Seoul City held the awards ceremony on the 14th at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) Seoul On Studio. Joo Yong-tae, Head of Seoul City’s Culture Headquarters, said, “Through the Seoul Universal Design Awards, established for the first time this year, we hope that the universal design cultivated over the past 10 years will spread beyond Seoul’s local units to a nationwide and integrated level,” adding, “Going forward, Seoul City will discover exemplary design cases hidden throughout the country and create inclusive standards nationwide.”

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