Shinsegae Department Store Wins Two iF Design Awards for "House of Shinsegae Heritage"

Reinterpreting Hanok Courtyard and Traditional Crafts:
Awards for Both Space and Branding Design
Proving Competitiveness on the Global Design Stage
with Distinctively Korean Aesthetics

Shinsegae Department Store has achieved recognition at the iF Design Award, one of the world's top three design awards, for its spatial design that modernizes traditional Korean aesthetics.

On March 12, Shinsegae Department Store announced that the "House of Shinsegae Heritage," located on the fifth floor of its main branch, received the main prizes in both the Interior Architecture (Installation) and Branding & Communication Design (Branding) categories at the iF Design Award 2026, hosted by Germany's International Forum.

The iF Design Award is an international design competition launched in 1953 and is considered one of the three major global design awards alongside Germany's Red Dot and America's IDEA. This year, a diverse range of entries from 68 countries around the world competed in the event.

For this competition, Shinsegae presented exhibition and dessert salon space designs that reinterpret Korean cultural heritage in a contemporary way, as well as branding design based on traditional materials and crafts.

The award-winning entry in the Interior Architecture category is an exhibition and dessert salon space themed "Weaving Heritage." It was created by restoring the former Cheil Bank headquarters, which was built in 1935, and reimagining the traditional Korean hanok courtyard in a modern style to create a cultural space that blends historicity with contemporary sensibilities.

The design also received high marks for combining traditional materials, craftsmanship, and lifestyle elements to create a space where visitors can linger and experience. In particular, the incorporation of Shinsegae's signature "spirit of hospitality" into the spatial design was highly praised by the judging panel.

In the Branding & Communication Design category, the award went to branding work that reinterpreted traditional Korean materials through a modern design language. The project stood out by consistently expressing the brand identity through a variety of outputs, including graphic design, exhibition content, and private brand (PB) products, all designed as a cohesive record.

The international jury highly evaluated the expansion of traditional materials and artisanal techniques—such as rice straw, hanji paper, and ramie—into patterns, packaging, and printed materials, successfully connecting traditional crafts with contemporary lifestyle experiences.

Notably, there was considerable significance in the fact that a space and branding design rooted in traditional Korean crafts won an award at the iF Design Award, where technology- and industry-focused works are typically dominant.

Since its opening in April of last year, the House of Shinsegae Heritage has demonstrated its design competitiveness by winning in six categories across four international design awards, including the latest iF Design Award.

Since opening, it has attracted more than 50,000 cumulative visitors and has established itself as a cultural space frequented by both domestic and international tourists. Starting March 7, it is also hosting the exhibition "Connect, Build: Heritage Archives," which documents the space’s planning and production process.

This exhibition highlights materials and craft techniques rooted in Korean lifestyle culture and showcases the results of research and development conducted in collaboration with artists and artisans, including Seo Sinjeong, Lee Injin, Han Changgyun, Cho Daeyong, Park Seonggeuk, and Kim Taeyeon.

Kim Kyeongeun, Creative Director of House of Shinsegae, stated, "It is highly significant that our contemporary interpretation of Korean aesthetics in space planning has been recognized on the global stage," adding, "We will continue to create spaces that offer new experiences to customers based on cultural content."

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