FEDERATION OF KOREAN INDUSTRIES TOWER BY ADRIAN SMITH + GORDON GILL

Adrian Smith +Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) has announced the public opening of the new head offices for the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).

The 50-story, 240-meter tower features an innovative exterior wall, designed specifically for the project. This highly sustainable project will feature an innovative exterior.

The building skin is designed to help reduce the internal heating and cooling loads of the tower and collect energy by integrating photovoltaic panels into the spandrel areas of the southwest and northwest facades, which receive a significant amount of direct sunlight per day.

By angling the spandrel panels 30 degrees upward toward the sun, the design is able to maximize the amount of energy collected, generating enough power to help maintain the electrical systems throughout the tower core and the office spaces.

Just below the spandrel panels, the vision panels are angled 15 degrees downward toward the ground, minimizing the amount of direct sun radiation and glare.

Together, the alternating spandrel and vision panels create a dynamically rippled façade that is both environmentally progressive and visually striking, giving the tower a unique architectural presence on the skyline.

The interior of the building takes advantage of the floor to ceiling windows of the exterior wall, offering an abundance of natural light to office spaces and corridors as well as extensive views of neighboring Yeoido Park, the Han River and the surrounding city of Seoul.

The completed tower includes several indoor garden/atrium spaces that enhance the workplace environment with natural elements of wood, bamboo and other native plants. The roof top atrium space features more custom photovoltaic panels.

The sculptural podium piece is located on central Yeoi-Dae-Ro Avenue, further promoting the tower’s public identity. The podium amenities, available for public use include a banquet hall, central restaurant and conference center.

The podium will be available for international conferences with a large first floor banquet hall and smaller conference rooms of various sizes located on the second and third floors. The multi-purpose nature of the podium is another way that the FKI building will become a new city centerpiece for Seoul.

Location: Seoul, Korea 
Architect: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill 
Local firm: Chang-Jo Architects 
Structure: Thornton Tomasetti 
Height: 244 m 
Area: 170,104 sm 
Year: 2014 
Client: Federation of Korean Industries