025S / POINTTWOFIVE.SECOND SEONGSU HAUS

Seoul, South Korea

A new building in Seoul for ‘Pointtwofive.Second’ or 025S, a Korean perfume brand.

We wanted to design a building which could capture the unique essence of perfume: The foul versus the fragrant, and the idea that the contrasting olfactory notes of a harmonious, memorable perfume must be well-balanced.

We represented this tension between the foul/ugly and the fragrant/beautiful quite literally in our architecture. In our design, the street-level and parking lot of the building are “foul” and made of asphalt, black concrete and pieces of rubber tyre.
Above, the building is oval, with no corners to break the flow, it is cast in concrete, and wrapped in misty glass through which the shadow of the interior is softly visible.

The stair is the spiralling continuum that evokes the smooth, dreamy character of perfume. It leads you through spaces that are light and atmospheric. An acoustic cotton spray on the interior curved walls softens the sound, enhancing the ethereal experience. When you look up, through the oval void, you see a copper sculpture arching overhead like a spray of perfume.

Architecture : Sophie Hicks Architects
Executive Architects: YOAP Architects
Lighting Consultant: Studio Formgiver
Sculptures: Choi Goen

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Photographs by Hong Kiwoong (3-12, 14) and Shin Hyo Geun (1, 2, 13)