It seems these days that South Korea is on the fast track to becoming one of the greenest (or at least ‘greener’) countries in the world. Aside from the recent announcements regarding its plans to build a ‘Masdar-like’ 100 percent self-sustainable city, or the commitment by Seoul’s mayor to construct 3 million square meters of green space in the city by the end of 2010, South Korea is again planning another ambitious sutainability-driven architectural project located near the Han River in its capital of Seoul..
The soon to be constructed Digital Media City Landmark Tower (DMC Tower for short) designed by SOM will be East Asia’s tallest skyscraper at 2,100 foot as well as one of its greenest. Expected to be completed in 2014, the visually stunning DMC Tower incorporates many passive sustainable design elements that its designers claim will enable the structure to reduce its energy consumption by up to 65%.
The tower’s main visible and defining facade consists of gently curving forms that encompass the north-south and east-west facades. On the latter, a carefully arranged pattern of vertical and horizontal fins are arranged to shield occupants from early and late day sun., while on the south-facing facade horizontal louvers are in place to deflect high mid afternoon sun. The ‘crown’ feature on top is another design element that serves both as a defining structural piece as well as a functional sustainable feature by channeling sunlight throughout the building for daylighting purposes. The crown also will contain wind turbines used to provide the tower with some of its own energy.
While energy production (around 3%) via its wind turbines and solar PV louver panels is a part of the DMC tower’s energy efficiency plan, the majority of its efficiency will come from its passive design elements that enlist the buildings own physics to achieve many of its green goals. The design of the building was done in such a way as to maximize the stack effect in order to maximize its heating and cooling efficiency. The structure also incorporates radiant cooling through chilled beams, radiant floor heating and atrium gardens throughout the building with some as tall as 15 stories. These high concentrations of plants indoors act as natural air filters for the buildingʼs inhabitants and also provide some level of humidity and temperature regulation.
The Good: An iconic structure that incorporates many passive sustainable design elements to achieve a high level of energy efficiency.
The Bad: In terms of the building’s own ability to produce power, more, most likely, could have been done.
The Bottom-Line: The DMC Tower will give South Korea not only an iconic piece of architecture, but an iconic piece of sustainable design as well.
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