24 jan 14 | World Architecture News
Unique facade for FKI headquarters
Federation of Korean Industries open the doors to their new AS+GG-designed offices
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) has officially moved into its new home in Seoul, following the completion of a 50-storey headquarters tower designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) who acted as design architects for the project, working with local practice Chang-Jo Architects and engineering firms Thornton Tomasetti and Environmental Systems Design.
Towering 240m over Seoul the new structure is coupled with a public podium at its base incorporating conference rooms, a banquet hall and a restaurant. This curvilinear addition of three storeys gives the scheme a more human scale and anchors it at street level on central Yeoi-Dae-Ro Avenue.
AS+GG are famed for their staggeringly tall towers and sleek design aesthetic, with schemes such as Kingdom City Jeddah and the Dancing Dragons towers in Seoul. The team recently secured the position of design architect for the 2017 Astana World Expo, the concepts for which can be found here.
The new headquarters tower for FKI is characteristically bold, sheathed in a unique skin designed specifically for this building. It is coated in spandrel panels angled 30 degrees upwards to maximise the amount of energy collected through the integrated photovoltaics on the southwest and northwest facades, resulting in enough energy to power the electrical systems in the core and office spaces.
As AS+GG Partner Robert Forest explains: “The tower features one of the most efficient solar electric facades in the world in a cost effective manner, proactively expanding Korea's goal of advancing renewable energy generation in buildings.”
Creating the dynamic silhouette of the tower are vision panels located just below the spandrel panels, each angled 15 degrees downwards. This arrangement minimises sun radiation and glare. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer users desirable viewing opportunities across the nearby Yeoido Park and Han River.
Adrian Smith details: "FKI Headquarters represents a new exterior wall typology that both integrates significant quantities of photo voltaic panels into the exterior wall and slopes the vision glass at an angle that generates self-shading and allowing less reflective glass to be used. The result is a unique folded exterior texture that is both purposeful and distinctive.”
Users of the building are also able to enjoy a cavernous rooftop atrium space and various indoor gardens, rich in native plants and featuring elements of wood and bamboo.