Shinsegae Starts Construction on New Jerde-Designed Kimhae Center in South Korea

Known as one of the premier world-class brands in South Korea, Shinsegae has begun construction on the nearly 145,000 square-meter Kimhae Center located in South Gyeongsang Province. Designed by Los Angeles-based architecture and urban design firm, The Jerde Partnership, the new center integrates outdoor culture and community spaces with five levels of retail and entertainment, along with major transportation facilities.

As one of the largest multi-use retail centers in the province, Kimhae Center combines three major project components: an on-site bus terminal, which is directly connected to a Shinsegae shopping center that includes new-to-market tenants and intimate seven-screen cinema; and an adjacent E-Mart discount anchor. The bus terminal has completed construction, and pilings for the commercial center recently started. The center’s signature community spaces incorporate a large outdoor public park and entry plaza at street level, terracing café decks along the upper levels, and a rooftop Sky Park garden.

Reflecting the elite brand of Shinsegae, Jerde created a modern design that blends with multiple open spaces to enhance connections to the local Kimhae landscape and culture. The multi-level retail center’s clean, contemporary architecture is sculpted to provide distinct visibility along the main Kimhae-daero highway and parallel metro line. On the opposite side along JEONHA-ro, the project’s main entry is highlighted by a new community park designed with a minimalist aesthetic, including horizontal banding and patterned concrete, floating elements with warm lighting, outdoor seating, and geometric landscape. The park also has a sunken cultural event space composed of a public amphitheater, performance area and serene water features. On the center’s roof level, the Sky Park garden offers panoramic views to the scenic city, mountains and waterways, providing a unique retail experience with walkways, seating and lush landscape.

Jerde also designed the exterior architecture for Shinsegae’s Chungcheong Center in Cheonan, South Korea. Other major completed works by Jerde in the region include: City 7 Mall in Changwon; Color Square Stadium Mall in Daegu; Star City, Mecenatpolis, and D-Cube City in Seoul, the latter of which received a 2013 Global Award of Excellence from the highly regarded Urban Land Institute.