KNN Media Center | DRDS

KNN Media Center, rendering courtesy of DRDS

KNN Media Center - Elevations, drawing courtesy of DRDScourtesy

KNN Media Center - Sections, drawing courtesy of DRDScourtesy

California-based DRDS, in collaboration with Ilshin Architecture and Engineering have won the Invited National pre-qualified competition to design a broadcast headquarters and cultural media facility – KNN Media Center. The project aims to become a new landmark in Busan’s Centum City, which to house a broadcast and news studio, office condominiums, retail, and a Teddy Bear Museum.

+ Project description courtesy of DRDS

The KNN Media Center is a new landmark broadcast headquarters and cultural media facility located in Busan’s Centum City. The new HQ will contribute, alongside other recently designed progressive works of architecture, to the definition of Centum City as a new cultural destination for Busan. Support program will include a broadcast and news studio, office condominiums, retail, and a Teddy Bear Museum.

KNN Media Center, rendering courtesy of DRDS

The project’s design explores the streaming nature of broadcast as a fresh and progressive example of informed media reporting. The building presents soft surface geometry at its base allowing visitors to subtly transition between external and internal public programs. Integration with the surrounding context is achieved by both the scale of the building, which addresses a 1:1.8 setback angle requirement and the formal distinction between a podium base and tower.

KNN Media Center, rendering courtesy of DRDS

The separation of the slender tower and twisting base creates a tension between the two in where the torquing of the base geometry is in contrast to the weight of the tower mass. Each mass is mutually distinct with regard to enclosure tectonics and spatial description. The variation between transparency and opaqueness presents unique spatial identities for tenants occupying various portions of the open tower floorplate.

The conceptual approach for the KNN Media Center is to design a building that embodies the virtue and youthful energy depicted in KNN’s vast experience of reporting. The new Broadcasting Headquarters will serve as a distinct landmark connected with surrounding public amenities to create a dynamic backdrop to Centum City’s seaport. Its elegant tower proportion and sweeping base surfaces seek to establish a unique urban experience that will impact the future development of Centum City.

KNN Media Center - Site plan, drawing courtesy of DRDS

KNN Media Center - Level 1 floor plan, drawing courtesy of DRDS

KNN Media Center - Level 2 floor plan, drawing courtesy of DRDS

KNN Media Center - Level 3 floor plan, drawing courtesy of DRDS

KNN Media Center - Level 4 floor plan, drawing courtesy of DRDS

KNN Media Center - Level 5 floor plan, drawing courtesy of DRDS

KNN Media Center - Level 7 floor plan, drawing courtesy of DRDS

KNN Media Center - Typical floor plan, drawing courtesy of DRDS

+ Project credits / data

Invited National pre-qualified competition – 1st Place

Project: KNN Media Center
Location: Centum City, Busan, Korea
Opening: 2012
Project Size: 47,853 sm
Cost: $100 million
Program: broadcast and news studios, office condominiums, retail and Teddy Bear Museum

Design Architect: DRDS
Design Team: Paul Quinn Davis, Steven Ryder, Daniel Carper, Myoung Choong Choo, Yoosang Ahn,
Collaborating firm: Ilshin Architecture and Engineering
Client: KNN

+ All images courtesy of DRDS and Ilshin Architects and Engineers