Seoul Post Tower
The Central Post Office project is situated in one of the most critical and highly visible sites in the historic central business district of Seoul. The zoning conditions limited the height to 20 stories as well as the maximum face of any side of the building to 50 meters above the 10th floor.
It was this unique urban situation along with the myriad of zoning constraints that informed the design of the project. The primary principles of the design were to create a singular memorable image to define this third point of the district, to maximize the foreground and public space in front of the structure to create a memorable public place and to accommodate the complex programmatic needs in an efficient and pleasant working environment for the differing users.
Programmatically the first 3 floors contain the public postal spaces and the office lobbies. The next 6 floors contain the postal sorting operations on large floor plates to minimize vertical movements. As the tower breaks into 2 individual towers, the central postal authorities occupy the south tower and the north tower is speculative office space to generate income for the project. The 10th floor becomes the community center for the project and contains dining, meeting spaces and lounge spaces for the users all centered around a large exterior terrace.
