Chung-Nam Government Complex wins AIA New York Design Award

By: Todd Ford | April - 8 - 2010

Winning the Merit Award for Un-built work at the 2010 AIA  New York Design Awards, the design of the Chung-Nam Government Complex  successfully combines traditionally divergent elements: nature and the built environment; and government and  civic spaces.  The complex, designed by H Associates, Haeahn Architecture,  and EDAW is set in the heartland of South Korea in the Chung-Nam Province, a place rich in natural resources. The design takes advantage of the natural splendor by creating a sinuous green roof that connects several buildings and provides a unified outdoor space that achos the surrounding mountains. In addition, the existing topography of the site is minimally disturbed and the green axes inform the organic shapes of the buildings, and provide cues that create view corridors extending to the natural scenery surrounding the site.
The façade is composed of a continuous layer of metal with variably sized perforations.  The size of the perforations is directly related to the degree of privacy needed by the program within each space.  The result is an additional level of richness in the design and a greater degree of continuity in the complex.

The interconnection of the outdoor and the indoor spaces create a distinctly different environment than what is found in traditional government complexes. The site is open, welcoming, interesting and incorporates numerous green features including solar panels, materials, and post occupancy programs and maintenance.