About this place
A tilted pyramid of raw concrete in a Hongdae back alley, the flagship spa of a cosmetics brand, carved with cut-outs and organic voids.
Areuke Spa sits on a narrow alley in the old residential heart of Hongdae, among former houses converted into salons, cafés and restaurants. Completed in 2021 by Chiasmus Partners for a skincare brand, it is a single mass of exposed concrete on a plot of about 170 m², with a basement and four floors above ground.
Its unusual shape comes straight from the rules. Seoul's right-to-light limits, strict in this tightly packed area, pushed the volume into a leaning, pyramid-like form that uses every bit of the permitted envelope. The architects then cut into it: angular openings, rounded hollows and sculpted recesses break up the surface, so the building reads more like a carved object than a box.
The concrete is left raw, which the architects compare to bare skin, a fitting idea for a spa. The ground floor is open to draw people in from the alley. Even if you don't book a treatment, the building is worth a detour as one of the most sculptural small buildings in the area; interior design is by SangHee Yoo.
Architecture · Contemporary ArchitectureInterior · Wellness Interior