Krafton
One Team One Dream

KRAFTON enjoys a symbiotic relationship with their fanbase, and the headquarters is an opportunity to meet them in yet another realm. The form and articulation oppose a universal ordering system to instead favor one that is loose, local, and informal in its arrangement in hopes of nurturing new forms of sociability. The building is composed of discrete and slanting vertical volumes that pick up the scale and granularity of Seongsu-dong, converging as the tower rises with landscaped areas that begin to take shape. As the building rises to the sky, its vertical fins taper and recede, softly developing a sense of continuity with the sky with soft reflections that minimize glare.

This crystalline form embodies the company ethos of a collection of individuals striving towards a common goal—a celebration of the KRAFTON “One Team One Dream” core value and an embodiment of the singular and the plural all at once. The building’s massing is tempered by the grouping of smaller buildings to circumvent imposition. For the city, its iconicism establishes it as a radical incubation hub that is exploring the potential of the urban landscape.

A high degree of permeability at the street level and attention to the public domain plug into the neighborhood, signaling approachability and establishing connectivity. Retail facilities like a supermarket invite pedestrians into a sunken garden that extends street activities into the building.

Everyone that enters passes through the social floor, a welcome center experiential in nature designed to encourage lingering and foster chance interactions between KRAFTON team members and the community alike. A multiplex floats over the area as both a viewing platform and a gallery space, and a large-scale curved screen rings around – granting spectators an immersive experience in the arena when gaming is on or otherwise acting as a flexible exhibition area. The multiplex further extends the social areas of the building, linking to a walkable roof platform that overlooks the streets and leads to the third floor. This social level combines spaces including a cafe, lounges, and test playrooms, as well as a 300-seat auditorium.

A modular gaming arena and a multiplex anchor the building on the ground level. In the arena – a 2,500-seat space designed primarily for E-sports competitions – terraced seating encircles a stage following the vineyard concert hall model. The distinctive format contributes to the energy of events by bringing spectators close to the stage and likewise enveloping the players with fans. A set of height-adjustable platforms combined with retractable seating allow for the stage’s shape and configuration to be modified for the needs at hand: central for E-sports competitions, or frontal for events that require standing space or varied seating layouts like concerts, conferences, and fashion shows.

A void runs through the tower’s center and opens up a communal atrium with communicating stairs across the game development production studios, which house teams that can include up to 300 members. The atrium creates vertical interconnections and draws people to the center of the floor plate to generate a feeling of community.

The floors offer workspaces for individual and collaborative work in an activity-based model that allows for varied working preferences. Surrounding the staircases are breakout spaces, lounges, and pantries that together form a social heart on the office floors. Conference rooms and focused work areas occupy the perimeter of the floorplate, where they open views of the Han River and the mountains to the Northeast. 

Multiple terraces throughout the building create a distinctive sky garden that brings people together across the many outdoor spaces, tying nature through the building. Rainwater is collected on the roof to irrigate the sky gardens and other landscaped elements.

Inside, team members can enjoy fresh air, ample daylight, and access to nature. The central atrium culminates in a skylight that brings natural light into the heart of the building and serves as a natural ventilation artery. The building uses low and zero-carbon energy sources such as photovoltaic panels and geothermal energy for heating and cooling. The roof holds 2,000m² of solar panels, and the facade integrates solar shading screens and louvers to control heat gain.