Tall & Urban News

Design Unveiled for Financial Group's Global Headquarters in Cheongna

The "restorative workplace" design includes programmed terraces, plantings, pathways, and sculptural landforms to add a naturalistic feel for employees and the public. © NBBJ
The "restorative workplace" design includes programmed terraces, plantings, pathways, and sculptural landforms to add a naturalistic feel for employees and the public. © NBBJ
24 June 2021 | Incheon, South Korea

NBBJ has unveiled its design for Hana Financial Group's new headquarters in Cheongna. Designed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept focuses heavily on enhancing well-being and community. Driven by the belief that a day of work should not be emotionally and physically draining, NBBJ has designed the Hana Headquarters to be a restorative workplace where nature is woven into the design and workspaces are flexible, diverse, and inspiring. 

“We’re excited to partner with Hana Financial Group in pioneering this departure from a typical workplace,” said Robert Mankin, Partner in Charge of Workplace Design at NBBJ. “Our design for a ‘restorative workplace’ reflects Hana’s dedication to the happiness and wellbeing of its employees and customers, especially after the year we’ve all just experienced. Health and wellness are critical to the success of a company and a community, and our design embraces those concepts."

CTBUH Member Companies
(showing member level)

The Hana Headquarters is comprised of a series of looping public pathways that traverse the building from bottom to top, connecting major hubs with amenity pavilions and programmed spaces in a park-like environment with plentiful fresh air and green space. Here, a vision for a calming oasis where employees can interact with the larger community extends into the new headquarters. Instead of a fully enclosed building with levels only accessible by elevator, the new headquarters site is energized by a ribbon of park experiences—including plantings, plazas, and sculptural landforms—that continues in a zig-zag pattern up through the building, with programmed terraces and points of interest encouraging people to pause and slow down along the journey.

While walking along the pedestrian pathway, employees and visitors can enjoy different vantage points, digital experiences, and interactions with nature. With a green path in the surrounding park unfolding into the new office, physical exercise and fresh perspectives are encouraged at every curve, disrupting a fast-paced, purely linear existence. At the building’s lower-level indoor atrium, a skylight above an interconnecting stair has a tranquil effect and encourages people to pause and interact by brightening movements between floors; connections and conversations will occur as users enjoy an experience more pleasant than an elevator enclosure. In addition to an abundance of natural lighting – which can mitigate stress and boost cognitive performance—the new headquarters will feature wood as a prominent material, to add warmth and give a subtle impression of continuity with the surrounding natural environment. The building’s booths, window-facing platforms, and entrances to collaboration zones are curved and modeled after organic shapes, resulting in calming, restorative spaces where creativity and long-term learning can happen.

“Every design decision—from the natural materials we selected to the pedestrian pathway thatpromotes physical activity—is driven by a desire to help people thrive, said NBBJ Design Partner, Jonathan Ward. “The building is designed as a conduit for experiences that make employees feel actively engaged and inspired, with ample opportunities to move freely, reconnect with nature throughout the day, and transition from quiet to collaborative work environments.”

Construction of the headquarters is set to begin in late 2021 and be completed by 2024.

For more on this story, go to NBBJ.