Seoul´s climate is quite extreme, with very cold winters (avg of -2ºC in January) and hot summers (avg high of 29ºC in August). The feeling of hot is intensified due to the very high humidity levels. In order to tame such conditions, the building needs to be resilient: the four parts of the programme come together under a roof that is operable. This generates a compact building during winter with an enclosed temperate courtyard, and a porous building during summer, with shallow plans easy to ventilate. The courtyard functions as a semi-outdoor space buffering outdoor extreme conditions. The main heat sources, solar and internal heat gains (occupancy, lights and equipment) and its combination are fundamental to minimise energy consumption. In this case, the strategy consisted in matching the distribution of the diverse programme with an adequate solar exposure. During winter, 50% of sunny days allow to benefit from solar gains. To tackle the cold, the project encloses itself to become more compact while generating thermal buffers. These unheated intermediate spaces collect solar gains and wasted heat from surrounding spaces, reaching a higher temperature than the outdoor one. During summer, natural ventilation can effectively displace heat and cool down occupants. Buffer spaces open up to maximise heat loss and provide shading while ensuring effective natural ventilation. The courtyard becomes an open space, semi-shaded, semi protected from the rain.

“In a world where time and space seem to consist of continuous alternations between the interior and the exterior, at a time when the difference between virtual and actual space is blurred, places that actually surprise us and excel the ordinary are rare. For the Urban Regeneration Project Site we propose to find the civic inside the buildings as a symbol of their intention to maximise: maximal park, maximal garden, maximal block, maximal exchange. The project combines the four main parts of the regeneration and 50 plus program, it’s temporary housing, the NPO offices, the ateliers and the ‘school’ as four independent sides surrounding a temperate garden. These buildings are elegantly juxtaposed in order to create a dense urban plan with a court where exchange – between inside and outside, and between the functional parts individually – is encouraged.”
OFFICE KGDVS

Seoul has a humid subtropical/continental climate. It is very cold in winter as the average of January is of -2.4ºC, and very hot in summer, with an average high of 29ºC in august. Whereas Seoul´s winters are sunny, its summers are mostly cloudy and diffuse solar radiation is predominant the entire year. The summer months coincide with the rainy season, which is why direct solar radiation is minimum and the sky is mostly covered. Prevailing winds come the entire year from East. The main issue to be tackled of the subtropical humid climate is precisely humidity, which in summer is very high. It intensifies the feeling of hot in summer and the feeling of cold in winter.