Cultural facilities including concert halls and a museum will be built in the Seoripul special planning district in Seoul's Seocho-gu, with eased building-use rules clearing the way for a mixed-use complex combining office, cultural and commercial functions.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on the 15th that its 17th Urban Planning and Architecture Joint Committee, held on the 14th, approved with revisions a proposed change to the Seoripul district unit plan and special planning district designation, along with a review of whether existing infrastructure is sufficient.
The site sits near Seocho Station on Subway Line 2, giving it strong access to the Gangnam business district. The city said the location is well suited for a mixed-use development because it lies along a cultural corridor running from Some Sevit to the Seoul Arts Center.
When the city revised the detailed development plan for the special planning district in August 2023, it called for 529,980 square meters of office space, 17,400 square meters of concert hall space and 19,500 square meters of museum space. The project is targeted for completion in 2030. With cultural facilities going up alongside the large office component, the site is expected to become a complex combining cultural and commercial uses rather than a purely office-centered development.
The performance complex will house four venues and rehearsal rooms: a 760-seat main hall, two mid-sized halls with 206 and 191 seats, and a 50-seat flexible small hall. The design, by architect Kim Chan-joong, was drawn up to harmonize with the surrounding Seoripul Park environment. Once completed, the facility will be run directly by Seocho-gu to strengthen the district's arts infrastructure.
The museum will be built as a "visible storage" facility spanning two basement levels and seven floors above ground. As an open-access storage space, it will display not only how works are stored and managed but also the restoration process. A design by the global architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron won an international competition for the project in 2023. The city plans to create a space where residents can observe conservation and restoration work and encounter art and culture in daily life.
The committee review incorporated 52.6 billion won in construction costs for public facilities. It also eased rules on building use so that operators can set facility plans in line with business conditions and user demand. The change is intended to raise utilization rates while allowing the site to meet commercial demand as a cultural hub.
Kim Chang-gyu, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Urban Space Headquarters, said the Seoripul special planning district is "where the main business areas of the Gangnam city center meet the cultural and arts spaces that run from the Han River into the Seocho area." He added, "Through this district unit plan revision, we expect to expand office, cultural and commercial space in the Seocho area and provide a new space of vitality for local residents and Seoul citizens."