On a narrow alley in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, there stood a church that had claimed its corner for over thirty years. Metal roof tiles sat awkwardly atop the red-brick structure; the building had been left untended for years, slowly losing its vitality. This project set out to restore the building's original character — not by adding, but by subtracting — to find a new role for it within the neighborhood. That was the beginning of a mixed-use building that would become both a home for one family and a place of business.

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True to the name 'Hall,' the design pursued a direction in which private ownership could serve a public role, contributing to the surrounding community. The circulation of the ground-floor commercial space and the second-floor residence were separated. The ground floor, formerly a dormitory for clergy, was opened up by removing most of the partition walls, creating space for a café and a math academy run by the clients. A covered passageway was also created, connecting the alleys at both ends of the building — a loosely defined space, simultaneously public and private, where passers-by can shelter from the rain or linger, while also serving as a transitional threshold for the café.

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The building's exterior was conceived around a simple base with selective moments of emphasis, allowing certain details to carry the whole. After rationalizing the building's lines and planes, the base finish was set in ivory stucco. A slender eave was introduced across the facade — functional in purpose, dividing the surface into horizontal bands that underscore the building's horizontal character. Glass tiles were then applied at key points: shimmering and shifting in color and texture with the light, they bring the Donggang River — Yeongwol's beloved waterway — into the facade as a surface that changes with time and weather.

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In the ground-floor café, the structural framework of the ceiling was left exposed, allowing traces of the building's past life to remain visible while gaining generous ceiling height. The concrete floor was polished to allow interior and exterior materials to flow continuously, unified in tone with the exposed concrete overhead. The academy next door was planned with connected circulation at both ends to allow flexible use. The interior was kept restrained, warmed by timber elements; two full walls of the classroom were fitted with glass white boards— part interior feature, part expansive blank page awaiting the marks of students' ideas.

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On the second floor, the kitchen and living room open generously, with windows and doors extending along the full length of the space to connect it to the outdoors. Rather than a conventional living room arranged around a television, this space was envisioned as the household's library — a place for the family to gather, reflect, and share knowledge. The bedroom doors are concealed as sliding panels within the library's bookshelves; when opened, they expand the library into the rooms beyond.

 

Wallpaper textured to echo the exterior stucco blurs the boundary between inside and out, while a floor in quiet concrete tones anchors the space. Furniture and doors finished in Okoume plywood bring warmth into what might otherwise feel austere, achieving a balance that is calm yet gently luminous. The existing eaves were redesigned as a balcony, giving each room its own threshold to the outdoors.

 

The clients shared that living in this house has brought the family closer — more conversations, more connection. More than any formal achievement, it is this quality that gives the project its deepest meaning: a space that quietly improves how people live and relate to one another. As years accumulate within Yunseul Hall, it is the people who will shine within it — like the glinting light on the Donggang River that gave this place its name — that we most look forward to.