KB Kookmin Bank is set to launch in earnest a project to rebuild its Yeouido headquarters building as a landmark. Yang Jong-hee KB Financial Group(105560) group chairman is said to have called for the construction of a headquarters that can symbolize KB Financial Group, referencing landmark buildings of global financial firms.
According to the financial sector on the 13th, KB Kookmin Bank is conducting a design competition for the Yeouido headquarters rebuild. KB Kookmin Bank set the design budget for the reconstruction at 198.9 billion won.
The rebuild is a project to transform the KB Kookmin Bank headquarters at 26, Gukjegeumyung-ro 8-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu (Yeouido-dong), into a large office. The expected scale is eight floors underground to 34 floors above ground, with a total floor area of about 104,800㎡ (about 31,700 pyeong). Compared with the KB Financial Group integrated new headquarters in Yeouido completed in 2020, the number of floors is higher by nine, and the total floor area is about 1.55 times larger.
The overall project period, including construction, is expected to be about seven years, with completion projected for 2033. KB Kookmin Bank plans to accept design competition entries and select a preferred negotiation partner around the end of the year.
As a global bank aiming to be among the world's top 50 financial groups, KB Kookmin Bank plans to build a headquarters that matches its mid- to long-term management vision and status. Chairman Yang Jong-hee is also said to have called for a new headquarters that can symbolize KB Kookmin Bank, rather than a uniform office building.
To that end, KB Kookmin Bank reportedly referenced landmark headquarters buildings of global financial firms. For the design competition, it adopted an open competition method, receiving multiple proposals from overseas architects, evaluating them, and contracting the most outstanding design.
In Yeouido, major buildings of KB Financial Group are clustered, including the integrated new headquarters, the Yeouido headquarters building, and KB Securities' head office. Once the rebuild of the KB Kookmin Bank Yeouido headquarters is completed, a "KB Town" is expected to take shape in Yeouido.