HOK Aims for LEED Platinum in South Korea
The U-Life building will be part of an area named a "green urbanism" pilot project by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 1/3/2008 12:00:00 AM
Architecture and urban design firm HOK recently unveiled its design for the U-Life building, a project slated to be the first commercial building to achieve LEED Platinum from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in Korea.
Located in Incheon, South Korea, the building is part of architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates' master plan for the Songdo international business complex, billed as the largest private real estate development in history. Recently named a "green urbanism" pilot project by the U.S. Green Building Council, the project will rise on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land on the Yellow Sea.
The complex is comprised of 45 million square feet of office space, 35 million square feet of residential space, 10 million square feet of retail space, and 10 million square feet of hotel space. It will also feature a hospital and two schools, as well as cultural, recreational, institutional, and government facilities, all surrounding a 100-acre central park including an aquarium and an art museum. The building, located on the south side of the park, will house real estate investment company Gale International, which is also the project's developer.
Opening in 2009, U-Life is designed to include solar electric automobile charging stations, daylight lit office space, natural ventilation, fuel cells, and green roofs topped with wind turbines. Rain gardens and a grey water recovery system will help conserve water. A portion of the building and the site will be devoted to a public exhibit area that will showcase sustainable building materials, systems, and technologies from United Technologies Corporation.
The building will be composed of a steel curtainwall, with photovoltaic panels integrated into site canopy structures, rooftop photovoltaics, and south facade shade devices. A narrow floor plate and interior atrium which will shine daylight on over 90 percent of workstations.
U-Life will also have the capacity to fully measure energy and water use and to continually evaluate system and equipment performance, thereby tracking the building's carbon footprint. After this system is developed for the U-Life building, it will be applied to the entire Sondgo complex.
Rendering courtesy of HOK
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