H’s design submission for the new Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) headquarters in Naju, South Korea is conceived as a “Green Energy Theme Park,” to progressively showcase and celebrate state-of-the-art passive/ active design strategies and on-site renewable energy resources.  Nearly 120,000 square meters of office space is laid out to promote innovative practice and sustainable building performance, while integrating dynamic public exhibits and interactive programs, as part of a vision to redefine the 21st century office complex.

The proposed site strategies challenge the segregated tower/ podium / landscape hierarchy which dominates the current office complex typology.  Instead, this submission inverts the normative scheme to create a polycentric organization with a vibrant and open civic space at the very heart of the site. In the central tower, a helically circulating atrium connects workers between floors and supplies natural daylight, while also serving as an innovative “breathing spine” for the building by using stack effect and pressure differentials to supply fresh, temperate air. The podium base is dispersed into a series of sloped forms that integrate seamlessly with the surrounding landscape.  This topographical strategy is also used to create “valleys” that channel light, air, and pedestrian-friendly connections throughout the site.  The campus-like arrangement of detached volumes results in vibrant public promenades and a dynamic office environment which is supportive of creative exchange.