Each year over 2.8 million people visit the Suncheon wetlands in Korea, which comprise world’s 5th largest tidal flat. To host them, Gansam Architects’ G.lab* have designed a visitor’s center that works to both enhance and protect the wetland that it is built on. It’s no easy feat, but the architects have succeeded in creating a minimally invasive project that goes with the ebb and flow of the tides.
Suncheon Bay in Korea is a 3,550 hectare Ramsar-protected wetland. Within its shallow salt marshes, one can find over 25 threated species. It is important not just for its ecological attributes, but for its contribution to the production of fish, seaweed and mollusks.
Gansam Architects‘ project was designed to meld with the surrounding mountains and wetland, showcasing its surroundings while protecting them at the same time. A green roof covers a significant portion of the building, and the project’s layout takes its inspiration from the inflows and outflows of the wetland’s tides.
To maximise its environmental qualities, the project is divided into separate areas, a simple, yet useful strategy that assists them in reducing energy consumption. Each of the spaces have been designed to maximise access to daylight, and the entire structure is raised to ensure that the site suffers minimal disruption.
+ G.Lab* by Gansam Architects and Associates
Via Dezeen
