[2024 Asia Construction Awards] POSCO E&C 'Flexi Foam' Enhances Independence from Newlyweds to Large Families

19th Asia Construction Awards
Seoul Mayor's Award - Smart Housing Category Winner

This year, the Seoul Metropolitan Mayor's Award in the Smart Housing category of the Asia Construction Grand Prize was awarded to POSCO E&C. POSCO E&C developed a new concept of floor plans to accommodate the changing social demographic structure, such as population aging and declining birth rates, along with increasingly diverse future lifestyles.

The new floor plan, named 'FLEXI-FORM,' is designed to satisfy various family compositions, ranging from two-person households including DINKs (Double Income No Kids) to five-person households where three generations live together. With the concept of flexibly transformable spaces, it presents a new paradigm of "a space that changes only for me."

POSCO E&C incorporated three strategies into FLEXI-FORM: 'pursuit of sustainability' across multiple generations, 'de-bordering of space,' and 'realization of wellness.' By combining nine specialized elements across eight types of slab and tower units with exclusive areas of 59㎡, 84㎡, and 130㎡, they implemented 20 lifestyle plans. The scope of FLEXI-FORM's application was diversified to include not only families of three to four members but also the rapidly emerging one- to two-person households such as singles, DINKs, and active seniors, as well as three-generation cohabiting families. To maximize spatial flexibility, columns were placed on the periphery to minimize load-bearing walls within the floor plan, which also drew attention.

The floor plan for two-person households reflects highly individualized preferences. Noting that each person has different sleep patterns, the master bedroom's sleeping area was separated, and an alpha room was separately configured to be used as a study or hobby space. A home spa space was also created by expanding and modifying the existing shared bathroom area, featuring a private sauna facility and a bathing tub with terrace views.

The floor plan for a four-person family with two school-age children proposed placing a dressing room and a study room between the children's rooms to enhance space efficiency. The floor plan for a five-person family sharing three generations was composed of separate bedrooms, bathrooms, and terraces for each couple. In particular, the senior couple's master bedroom included a dedicated living room space to strengthen independence. Additionally, there are floor plans designed for singles, couples living with kangaroo children, and others.

Floor plan for a family of four with two school-age children among the flexi form / Image provided by POSCO E&C

Star architect Professor Hyun-Jun Yoo of Hongik University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CEO of Hyun-Jun Yoo Architects) participated in the development of FLEXI-FORM. Last month, Professor Yoo gave a lecture titled "The Direction of Future Residential Spaces" at The Sharp Gallery in Jagok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, stating, "We can imagine the blurring boundaries between urban and rural areas, and the ambiguous nature of roads between movement and staying." He added, "Spaces inevitably change according to lifestyle, and revolutions in materials and technology will drive these changes."

POSCO E&C has completed copyright registration to apply the new floor plan to 'The Sharp' and 'OTIER' sales complexes. A POSCO E&C official said, "While pursuing sustainability, we aimed to propose new residential spaces that respond to changes in family members triggered by declining birth rates and increasingly diverse lifestyles. Marking our 30th anniversary, we reflected on the past 30 years and planned for the next 30 years, continuously developing residential products that can respond to changing customer needs."

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