Perkins Eastman, in collaboration with the Korean architectural firm Hanwon Forum Design Group, was commissioned by Kumkang Housing Company to create a landmark mixed-use office complex in Anyang City.

Located in an industrial neighborhood 16 km (ten miles) south of Seoul’s city center, the site is bordered by two major roadways. The 132,000 sm (1.4M sf) complex comprises two 22-story glass office towers on top of a two-story retail podium and parking block, their composition mimicking the mountainous topography in the distance. Located at the western edge of the site, the retail component is easily accessed by pedestrians and includes a sunken landscaped courtyard, allowing light into the lower levels and views into the ground-level retail.

The office towers’ exterior is composed of two very different facades: the front elevation and central plaza comprise a series of folded glass curtain wall planes with vertical light boxes along the edges, while the rear facades are constructed of a more minimalist glass-paneled vertical window wall system. A special edge lighting detail on the front elevation adds to the complex’s high-tech presence in the neighborhood, communicating the energy of the work within.