LG Science Park in Seoul, Korean Building Design, Magok District Architecture Images

LG Science Park in Seoul

Magok District Business Building Development in South Korea – design by HOK architects

30 Apr 2018

LG Science Park

Architects: HOK with Gansam Architects

Location: Magok District, Seoul, Republic of Korea

HOK-Designed LG Science Park Opens in Seoul

photo © GS Construction

1 million-sq.-m. campus can accommodate 25,000 employees across 18 buildings

One of the world’s largest corporate research campuses is now open for business. At more than 1 million square metres (the equivalent of 152 football pitches), LG Science Park in Seoul’s Magok District unites staff from eight of LG’s Korean businesses in the same location for the first time. The £2.7 billion project had its official unveiling Friday by LG Group Vice-Chairman and LG Electronics CEO Koo Bon-Joon in a ceremony attended by South Korean President Moon Jae-In.

photo © GS Construction

“LG Science Park is a large R&D facility that was carefully planned to accommodate complex programs and diverse needs and respond to future changes,” noted Ju-Hwan Shin, Managing Director, LG Science Park Business Unit/Construction Drive Division. “All design decisions were made from the perspective of researchers, research productivity, and the synergy of fusion. Here LG will open up the right future for mankind,”

HOK’s London studio designed LG Science Park as a next-generation corporate research campus intended to foster collaboration and innovation among scientists and staff from multiple disciplines, including electronics, chemistry, nanotechnology, display, fabrication and life sciences. The 18-building campus will serve as the world research headquarters for the global consumer electronics brand of LG Group and a hub for science and talent in South Korea. The campus could eventually accommodate up to 25,000 resident researchers and support personnel.

“We designed LG Science Park in close collaboration with LG, echoing in many ways the method in which their consumer products are developed,” said Larry Malcic, design principal of HOK’s London office. “It was important that the individual buildings feature the same elegance of form as LG’s products. While buildings are tailored to specific scientific activities, they are also highly flexible and can easily adapt to the changing requirements of science.”

HOK created LG Science Park’s masterplan and led overall design work. The campus’s buildings feature a highly sustainable design that is expected to achieve LEED Platinum rating. Two Seoul-based firms also provided design work on the project: Gansam Architects and Chang-jo Architects.

“HOK were chosen because their expertise and experience in similar high-profile projects informed their design with visionary thinking expected by LG. Their design achieved three key goals: flexible lab planning adaptable for ever-changing user needs; inspirational and collaborative workplaces to attract the world’s best researchers; and elegant, timeless design quality. Thanks to HOK’s efforts and specialist knowledge, our joint achievement has exceeded expectations, and Gansam and HOK plan to continue their successful partnership,” commented TJ Kim, President, Gansam Architect.

Construction of LG Science Park took just 33 months and employed more than 6,000 construction workers. Developed concurrently, the campus’s buildings are connected via gardens and linear parks at ground level and by a vast underground service floor in addition to several subterranean parking levels. The gardens and plazas are accessible to the community, and the campus faces a large new public park. A nearby metro station links LG Science Park to central Seoul. Its proximity to the airport makes the campus convenient to international visitors.

An expansive restaurant on the lower level provides informal gathering spaces for researchers and can feed several thousand employees in one lunch sitting. Elsewhere throughout the campus design elements such as flexible spaces, casual meeting areas, seminar suites and bridges provide places for impromptu and structured idea-sharing and collaboration.

The Integrated Support Centre (ISC) at the heart of the LG Science Park incorporates a welcome centre, multipurpose event hall, conference and seminar rooms, exhibition areas, a VIP lounge, daycare facilities, sports and recreation areas, and convenience retail. The ISC directly connects to central fabrication labs, clean rooms and special convergence labs to ensure efficient circulation in the facility.

LG Science Park represents the latest advanced research centre designed by HOK’s Science + Technology practice. Other recent and ongoing projects include The Francis Crick Institute in London, the Cardiff University Translational Research Facility in Wales and University of Glasgow’s Research Hub in Scotland. All of the projects share similar goals of encouraging collaboration in corporate and institutional research by creating flexible environments that promote interaction and lateral thinking.

With offices around the globe, HOK creates a better world through the design of buildings and spaces that respond to the needs people and the environment. HOK designers are rooted in technical excellence, driven by imagination and focused on a solitary goal: to deliver solutions that inspire clients and communities.

Photography: GS Construction

8 Jun 2017

LG Science Park in Magok District, Seoul

HOK-Designed LG Science Park Reaches Major Construction Milestone

The world’s largest new corporate research campus is 75 percent
complete and on target to officially open in Seoul in 2018.

LG Science Park, the HOK-designed 11.8 million-sq.-ft. research and science campus for global consumer and electronics brand LG Group, is now three quarters of the way to completion. The next-generation campus will accommodate LG researchers from disciplines including electronics, chemistry, nanotechnology, display, fabrication, life sciences and new materials.

Situated in Seoul’s Magok District on the edge of the Han River, the development will be one of the world’s largest new corporate research campuses. Some 6,000 construction workers are currently employed on site, with plans to finish the work gradually from the second half of 2017. Once complete, LG Science Park will serve as the company’s world research headquarters and house more than 19,000 LG employees, placing staff from 10 affiliates under one roof for the first time. The number of employees working within the LG Science Park could eventually grow to 21,000.

HOK was responsible for creating the overall campus masterplan and architecture, including the design of 10 laboratory and office buildings totalling more than 8 million square feet. Gardens and linear parks link the buildings at ground level. All are connected by an underground amenities and service floor, in addition to several subterranean parking levels. The gardens and plazas will be accessible to the community, and the campus faces a large new public park.

Several restaurants on the ground level will have the capacity to serve 6,100 people while doubling as informal collaboration hubs for scientists from all areas of research. In addition to this communal dining facility, the campus will encourage scientific collaboration with flexible spaces, informal meeting areas, seminar suites and bridges linking researchers from different disciplines.

In the middle of the campus, the Integrated Support Centre (ISC) will house gathering spaces including a welcome centre, multipurpose event hall, conference and seminar rooms, exhibition areas and a VIP lounge. The ISC also will include daycare facilities, sports and recreation areas, and convenience retail. It will connect to central fabrication labs, clean rooms and special convergence labs.

LG Science Park in Seoul – Building Information

Masterplanner and lead architect: HOK
Lead local architect: Gansam Architects
Local laboratory architect: Chang-jo Architects
Local engineer: LG-Toyo
Structural, fire, vertical transportation and facade access engineer: WSP
Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing engineer: Vanderweil Engineers
Logistics: Arup
Theatre consultants: Carr & Angier
Foodservice consultant: Foodesco Ltd
Project manager: SERVEONE