3.2 Million Square Foot Development Stimulates Seoul’s Hapjeong Neighborhood
Mecenatpolis, a high-concept, transport-oriented mixed-use development has opened its many doors in downtown Seoul according to recent reports regarding the announcement made by the project’s designers.
By Alex Girda, Associate Editor
Seoul—Mecenatpolis, a high-concept, transport-oriented mixed-use development has opened its many doors in downtown Seoul according to recent reports regarding the announcement made by the project’s designers. The large-scale development was built in one of the Korean capital’s most up and coming neighborhood, Hapjeong. It is to be the latest Jerde Place, a brand created by Los Angeles-based international architecture design and urban planning company Jerde, to open on the Asian continent. The 3.2 million square feet of space the district offers up will be divided into three luxury high-rise residential towers and one tower of class-A office space. Jerde handled the open-air mixed-use public space featuring dining, retail and space destined for the entire community.
The development’s four landmark towers, designed by local firm EAWES, are the architectural hook of the sprawling project while the lower levels will reel customers through the 970,000-square foot open air village featuring retail, dining, event area and public park. This part of the area is destined for cultural activities immersing both visitors and residents in the proceedings. Developed by GS Engineering & Construction Corp, Sejin, the project features terraced balconies, glass bridges, landscaped roof gardens, a plethora of open-air space, water features and a central plaza to tie everything together in the central part of the canyon-inspired Mecenatpolis.
The high-rises included in the project offer up 1.72 million square feet of space destined for upscale luxury housing, and an additional 538,000 square feet of creative office space, completing the mixed use district’s aim at redefining the entire area it occupies. According to Jerde’s senior design principal, Eduardo Lopez, the company was “very thoughtful during the design process about how to successfully integrate the project into the existing urban fabric.” He also said that the development’s organic design came together by involving the nearby transport hub and drawing from that focal point in the creative process.
The project was originally conceived with the purpose of kick-starting the Hapjeong neighborhood. Now that the Mecenatpolis development is operational, the Korean capital offers up a trio of major projects developed along the city’s main transit lines, the other two being the 2011-openend D-Cube City and the older Star City, opened in 2006, both of which were designed by Jerde.
