A new headquarters for YG Entertainment in Seoul

YG Entertainment, the creators of the popular K-Pop, has a stunning new headquarters in Seoul (South Korea) designed by UNStudio that embodies performance.

 

Setting the stage

The South Korean music scene, otherwise known as K-Pop, is setting the stage for music around the world. The multinational agency YG Entertainment commissioned UNStudio to design their new headquarters which houses meeting rooms, office spaces and recording studios. The structure is situated between a beautiful park, highways with bridges over the river and a contrasting low density residential area. The protective shell of the new HQ building is designed as a new ‘urban speaker’.

UNStudio strategically optimized views for the employees inhabiting the building. The offices face the park with generous glazing to provide ample daylighting for all seven storeys. The first four storey’s meeting spaces used for collaborating or recreating flank an interior atrium with a meticulously kept garden where workers and guests gather and commune under its skylit roof. Vibrant shades of white, judiciously chosen materials and bold geometries create a contagious energy within and around the structure.

 

Outside spaces for work-breaks

The new headquarters compliments its neighbor, the existing YG Building which is made of an exposed concrete exterior. Although the new building has a metallic exterior – which combines glass and aluminum panels with a perforated pattern – its floors levels, functionality, height and overall massing correspond to its predecessor.

Outside spaces for the users have been provided for the central zone along the park side of the building in the form of balconies. These protrusions also serve as sun shading for the floors below. Solar cells are interspersed along the south-facing facade as well as on the roof. Partially glazed or void zones create a transition to the fully solid portion of the structure’s façade.

Luscious landscaping contrasts the metallic exterior while nodding to the nearby park. The experience of YG’s new headquarters from the outside in is one of intrigue a sentiment it shares with that of the music industry.

 

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