The appeal of a freelance career has led to the sprouting of collaborate workspaces across South Korea and the latest of such spaces to land in Seoul is HUB. Funded by the municipal government, budding entrepreneurs are offered not only an office space, but a six-month consulting service, both supplied by the Social Business Association and Jobs for Young Adults.

The brainchild of local architectural honchos Hyunjoon Yoo Architects, the interiors, decked out in calming tones of beige, chestnut and grey with the occasional pops of blue, yellow and orange, are meant to provide a stimulating environment for the generation of new ideas.

Working around ideas of community and privacy and with inspiration culled from the plazas and rivers that line the grids of New York and Rome, HUB consists of an open workspace and a series of insulated cell offices. Successful applicants start at the former and once a more thorough business plan has been conceived, will be moved to the latter.

Ideologically, HUB aspires to be a microcosm of the city, with the open area acting as public spaces where community members converge and exchange ideas, and the cell offices acting as individual homes.

A bevy of utilities including a library, restaurant, seminar rooms and a concert hall span the rest of the 3200-square-metre space.

Yet, even as the architects are exercising their ideal vision of the city, they are aware of the need for flexibility. As such, sliding walls and tables that can be dismantled and reassembled are installed to cater to a wide range of activities. Steel frames, which form a canopy of sorts over the open area, and a staircase are used to break the internal volume of the space.

Hyunjoon Yoo Architects
hyunjoonyoo.com