Augmented Reality Architects, a Seoul based company encompasses W House with a thin perimeter of courtyard spaces, creating a green mediator between the city and the home. They designed the house in the South Korean capital so that it can offer a high level of privacy to the owners. According to the architecture studio, the family has made a very precise request – privacy. Their request was specific enough to indicate that they were ready to give up basic requirements like proper sunlight and ventilation.
The house has few windows and its concrete, the plain exterior gives a minimalist look. A courtyard at the centre of the house along with the outer yards makes enough room for air and light to enter inside. However, their placements shield the house from views in. The studio claims they had to think hard for a concept that would provide privacy while also maintaining the fundamentals.
Three factors comprise the W House. Dressed in concrete, the top wing accommodates living spaces. Bedrooms, dressing rooms and bathrooms are housed in a white wing, while the basement level makes room for studio spaces and a top-lit parking spot. The interior can be accessed by a slim-cut, deep entrance in the front. A staircase leads up to the living area, taking the level of outside separation even further. The two wings are linked together by an external and internal path around the mid courtyard space. The border of the house dwindles from the house’s boundary to allow room for a little bit of greenery.
The studio boasts that the house might look silent, weird and monotonous from outside, but fresh air and vibrant sunlight easily find their way in through the courtyards. They act as go-between space connecting the inside with the outside. This makes a perimeter that softens the division.
Equipped with letterbox-like vents, the house acquires bright light while also blocking overlooking. A big slick opening on the 2nd-floor level creates a triangular window for the terrace, through which one can see the nearby forest. Large kitchen, dining and living space surrounds the central courtyard’s southern side at ground level. Above that is the family room. Bathrooms and bedrooms are at the other end of the building across the courtyard and are designed to open both at the upper and ground level via sliding doors onto the terrace area. Created by Mies & Louis, a partner firm of Augmented Reality Architects created the interiors of the house. Their work is pacific and completely in contrast with the structure’s simple, sturdy-looking concrete exterior.
Metal window frames, floating wooden staircases and wooden flooring combined with white walls brilliantly enhance the ambience of light. Dark wooden decoration offers ways through planting areas, and spaces open to the house’s courtyard. Former projects by the studio include a dwelling in Gimhae, a South Korean city with living areas shielded by a front of upright metal poles.
