Gangbuk-gu Builds 20-Story New Office Building... Fully Equipped with Performance Hall, Care Center, and Resident Convenience Facilities

International Design Competition Winning Entries Announced on 26th Next Month
Design Fees Total 14.4 Billion Won, Largest Scale This Year
Many Resident Convenience and Family-Friendly Facilities Included to Create Rest Areas
District Mayor: "Significant Improvement in Resident Convenience Alongside Administrative Efficiency"

Perspective view example of the new Gangbuk-gu Office building (based on the 4th Central Investment Review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in 2023). Provided by Gangbuk-gu.

The international design competition for the new Seoul Gangbuk-gu Office building, which is being planned to replace the old office building that has stood for over 50 years, is attracting significant attention both domestically and internationally. The Gangbuk-gu new office project involves a design fee of 14.4 billion KRW and an estimated construction cost of 262.7 billion KRW, making it one of the largest design competitions in South Korea this year in terms of scale.

Gangbuk-gu is planning a complex office building on the site at 192-59 Suyu-dong, where the current district office is located. The building will have 5 underground floors and 17 to 20 above-ground floors, with a total floor area of 65,532 square meters. Although the entire special planning zone for the Gangbuk-gu office covers 9,485 square meters, the project site for the complex building is about 6,400 square meters.

Gangbuk-gu began the basic planning service in July 2020, passed the central investment review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in November last year, and accepted registrations for the international design competition until the 14th of last month. It is understood that over 100 firms showed interest. A Gangbuk-gu official stated, “Receiving registrations does not necessarily indicate the final competition ratio,” but added, “As a symbolic complex office building that will transform the commercial area around Suyu Station and is large in scale, it is true that it has attracted high interest from the industry.”

Gangbuk-gu plans to receive design proposals on the 5th of next month and announce the final winning design on the 26th of the same month. Afterwards, they will begin basic design and detailed development planning, aiming to start construction in March 2026 and complete it by December 2028.

The Gangbuk-gu new office building will be up to 20 stories tall with a total floor area of 65,532 square meters, but the district office itself will occupy only about 23.7% of the total area. Other public offices such as the district council, health center, and Suyu 3-dong community center combined will account for about one-third of the total floor area. The district plans to include a citizen hall, a north lounge, exhibition and performance halls, a youth center, sports facilities, and care centers, significantly expanding the resident convenience facilities lacking in the Suyu-dong, Beon-dong, and Mia-dong areas. This supports the explanation that the new building is not just a high-tech office building for the convenience of government employees in Gangbuk.

Lee Soon-hee, the mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, “In Gangbuk-gu, where land available for developing resident convenience facilities is extremely scarce, the complex office building will greatly improve administrative efficiency and significantly enhance resident convenience.” She added, “The new office building will serve as a landmark for Gangbuk, transforming the deteriorated surrounding environment and promoting development, which is a key point of the new construction.”

The complex office building will include a parking lot with more than 460 spaces, much of which will be open to the public. The Mia-dong complex office building and Beon-dong Gangbuk-gu Health Center, located about 1.5 km from the Gangbuk-gu office, and the Gangbuk-gu Council, about 1 km away, will all be consolidated in one place, which is expected to bring significant changes to the commercial area around Suyu Station, according to the district. The district is also pursuing a plan to connect the underground passage from the exit of Suyu Station on Subway Line 4, which is about 70 meters in a straight line, to the district office underground. Additionally, they are considering developing the Mia-dong complex office building, health center, and council, which will become idle facilities after the new office is built, into facilities for local residents.

The design fee for the Gangbuk-gu new office building alone surpasses that of Incheon City (9.4 billion KRW) and Cheongju City (6.4 billion KRW), which held international design competitions last year, as well as Gangseo-gu, Seoul (7.2 billion KRW), which held a design competition in 2021. It is comparable to the recent international design competition for the Gangwon Provincial Office, which had a design fee of 14.6 billion KRW and an estimated construction cost of 320.3 billion KRW.

Meanwhile, Gangbuk-gu reorganized the temporary New Office Construction Promotion Team into a formal organization under the deputy mayor in this month’s organizational restructuring and appointed Section Chief Hwang Gyu-hyun as the head.

The site where the new Gangbuk-gu office building will be constructed. Some areas on the right side of the special planning zone are public and private lands. Provided by Gangbuk-gu.