Oh Se-hoon: "Hagye 5-danji, Tower Palace-style Reconstruction Fully Possible"

Oh visits Singapore's ultra-high-rise luxury public housing 'Pinnacle at Duxton'
Reveals plans for reconstruction of Hyeon-gae 5 Complex rental housing
"Realizing rental apartments like Tower Palace"

A view of Pinnacle@Duxton, a high-rise public housing in Singapore. (Photo by Seoul Joint Press Corps)

[Singapore=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] The redevelopment of Hwagye 5 Complex in Nowon-gu, Seoul, the first rental apartment reconstruction project in Korea, is set to be a high-density development. There is also a possibility that it will exceed 35 floors.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is visiting Singapore, visited the high-rise public housing 'Pinnacle @ Duxton' on the morning of the 1st and revealed the redevelopment plan for Hwagye 5 Complex. Mayor Oh said, "We confirmed here that public housing like Tower Palace is possible," adding, "Through reconstruction, we will officially introduce high-quality rental housing in Seoul."

◆ 50-Story High-Rise Reconstruction... Seven Buildings Organically Connected by Skybridge = The high-rise public housing 'Pinnacle @ Duxton' located in downtown Singapore was redeveloped in 2009 into a 50-story apartment complex by demolishing the oldest public housing in Singapore for high-density redevelopment.

'Pinnacle @ Duxton,' visited on this day, is located about 3 km from Marina Bay, Singapore's representative tourist and business district. It is about a 10-minute taxi ride from Marina Bay Sands, a landmark of Singapore.

Despite being in the heart of Tanjong Pagar, a financial district filled with high-rise buildings, it harmonizes well with surrounding buildings, living up to its reputation as the tallest public housing in the world. 'Pinnacle @ Duxton,' with 7 buildings lined up at 50 stories high, currently houses 1,848 households. It features a pilotis structure above the third floor, creating shared spaces such as basketball courts and rest areas on the ground level, designed to prevent car traffic. The seven buildings are connected by skybridges on the 26th and 50th floors.

Completed in 2009, 'Pinnacle @ Duxton' was strategically developed by the Singapore government to provide affordable, close-to-work housing for middle- and low-income workers. The oldest public housing in Singapore was demolished to create a high-rise, high-quality public housing complex. Additionally, open-design elements were incorporated throughout to prevent public housing from becoming an 'island within the city.'

Mayor Oh Se-hoon toured the interior of 'Pinnacle @ Duxton' and the rooftop garden located on the top floor, reaffirming that existing rental housing can be transformed into high-quality apartments through reconstruction. Mayor Oh said, "If the floor area ratio of old rental housing is expanded from an average of 100% to 300-500% and developed at high density like here, rental housing comparable to Tower Palace can be fully realized."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who visited Nowon-gu Hagye 5 Complex, is receiving a report on the progress of the redevelopment project for aging rental complexes.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Seoul Launches 'High-Quality Rental Housing Reconstruction'... Hwagye 5 Complex as the First Model = Seoul plans not only to improve the quality of living spaces and community facilities during the reconstruction of aging rental housing complexes in the city but also to increase the floor area ratio to expand unit sizes and supply.

There are a total of 34 permanent and public rental housing complexes in Seoul scheduled for reconstruction. Among them, Hwagye 5 Complex, Korea's first permanent rental apartment built in 1989, is expected to serve as a kind of testbed to realize this plan and become Seoul's first high-density reconstructed rental housing. The city initially plans to rezone the existing Type 2 General Residential Area to a quasi-residential area, raising the floor area ratio from 103% to a maximum of 435%. Through this, the existing 640 households will be more than doubled, and unit sizes will be expanded.

The 'three-generation living' housing type will also be introduced for the first time. The 'three-generation living' housing is a special floor plan developed and applied so that parents and children can live independently while living together by separating households within one home. Mayor Oh announced this plan on the 30th of last month during his visit to Kampung Admiralty, a multi-generational public housing complex in Singapore.

Mayor Oh said, "In Seoul, where there is no land to build new houses, the way to construct and supply affordable new housing is through the reconstruction of old rental housing," adding, "If developed at high density, rental housing supply can be more than doubled, and unit sizes can be expanded along with securing various community facilities."