Adaptive reuse of apartments as heritage assets in the Seoul station urban regeneration area

Abstract

Apartments were crucial solutions to provide sufficient dwellings and to improve residential environment quality in the period after the Korean War. Thirty years after the first rush of apartment construction, many of those apartments have been demolished. However, several small-scale apartment complexes or single-building apartments without collective estates were not included in reconstruction efforts due to property, ownership, and reconstruction feasibility issues. Four such apartments remain in the Seoul Station Urban Regeneration Area. Although they are considered severely deteriorated, their architectural, historical, and cultural heritage values warrant inclusion in the Seoul Future Heritage list. From the perspective of urban regeneration, these apartments should be targeted for revitalization not only to preserve their originality but to improve the quality of sustainable building conditions and operations. In this study, we examine Choongjeong Apartment, Hoehyeon Civic Apartment, St.Joseph Apartment, and Seosomun Apartment in terms of balance among six heritage values and their improvement needs, as well as possible revitalization strategies that support sustainable urban regeneration in the area. We argue that their physical conditions can be brought up to applicable building codes, if financial support is forthcoming and numerous decision-makers allow. However, sustainable revitalization of apartments requires examination of factors affecting adaptive reuse. Through a literature and data collection review within an analysis framework, we analyze factors and issues for adaptive reuse of the four apartments. It is expected that the findings of this paper will provide insight into the role of various actors determining and taking actions for strategic physical interventions and change of uses.