R/URBAN DESIGN OFFICE LLC

This project is a mixed-use hospitality complex developed by Global-Dining Co., combining food, beverage, and accommodation programs within a single architectural framework. The ground floor accommodates twelve restaurant brands cultivated by the company over the years, arranged as an urban-like assemblage of distinct destinations. Above, a mid-range hotel—an accommodation type previously lacking in the area—serves as a base for extended stays and tourism.

Within this project, all tenant interior design was undertaken by Global-Dining Co., while our scope was limited to the base building. Rather than directly designing the individual customer experiences of each venue, we approached architecture as the underlying framework capable of supporting diverse activities and future transformations. Our interest lay in exploring architecture as infrastructure: a spatial and structural foundation that quietly sustains the “dream” envisioned by the client.

The focus of the design was therefore not expressive form, but structure and dimension. To reconcile the flexibility required by the open commercial floor with the more finely partitioned hotel program above, a long-span steel truss system was introduced. While intended to recede into the background of the visitor's experience, the trusses nevertheless provide a subtle sense of cohesion across the entire complex through their geometry and coloration.

Particular attention was also given to circulation spaces, whose influence on human behavior extends beyond any specific interior fit-out. Throughout the design process, numerous hypothetical interior layouts were tested against the architectural framework. Among these spaces, the external passage was conceived as an intermediate condition—neither a corridor nor a plaza. Its width of 3.24 meters emerged through extensive discussion with the client, seeking a balance between movement and lingering, where chance encounters and urban vitality might coexist.

As the project evolves, tenant compositions and programs will inevitably change in response to shifting demands and patterns of use. Rather than prescribing these future conditions, we sought to create an architecture capable of accommodating them. Our ambition was to provide a vessel within which multiple layers of activity, memory, and occupation can accumulate over time. We hope the building will quietly continue to support this richness from beneath, serving as the enduring ground upon which an evolving urban life unfolds.