80
Moon hotel
the World Of Hospitality
Go.mir Guest House / Moon Hoon
Gomir
The client
The design
Go happens to be the Sirname of the client... mir
in Korean means a dragon...so Gomir means Go's
dragon...
Go is a sir name that is very common among Jeju
Islanders. The client is a Jeju born Islander who
worked as an imported car dealer in Seoul.
The site
He decided to return to his island of birth to start his
own business, a guesthouse, and a coffeeshop with a
home for his family.
The program requested by the client and the budget
sculpted a simple and dense block of function with a
small atrium in the middle carrying on the porosity
concept for ventilation and light purpose for guest
house design. Looking from the road, left is the
guest house and the right is the coffee shop and the
house. The south east was given to the house for
better everyday living conditions. The 1st floors are
angled because even though the footprint is small the
volumetric experience is of spatial expansion. It is built
to the maximum, so the angle and the extra volume
is a bonus. The entrance to the guest house is at the
rear, providing a walking experience and buffering
from the busy traffic. The small lobby is greeted by an
atrium of 3 floor depth. It provides a calm well of light
gives some space of breath in otherwise a tight space
composition.
Jeju is an Island south of Korean peninsular, famous
as a vacation spot. The landscape is dominated by
halla mountain in the center and basalt rocks by the
sea. The weather is more balmy than mainland which
allows for more exotic vegetation growth. The site is
located just five minute walk from a famous tourist
site called Yongdoam(dragon's head), which is a
basalt formation that looks like a dragon's head. The
story and appearance generated by basalt Yongduam
became a point of departure for the new design. The
site itself has nothing spectacular, having a two way
road in front, surrounded by common buildings. But,
going up vertically meant that sights of the sea and
Halla mountain could be secured.
Architects: Moon Hoon
Section
The budget was very tight from the start, so many
things were taken as given conditions. The three
different functions merged to make one building,
instead of two or three, even though site is large
enough to accommodate at least two buildings with
a decent courtyard in the middle. The exterior finish
was decided early on, a eurofoam finish with paint
reminiscent of basalt rocks.
Website: www.moonhoon.com
Photographs: Nam Goong Sun, Kim Jae Kwan