The site in Songhyeon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul (around Songhyeon-dong 48-9) will be developed into a cultural park with green space and a plaza.
The Seoul city government said on the 1st that at the second Urban Park Committee meeting on the 24th, the Songhyeon Cultural Park development plan passed deliberation, and detailed facility plans for the park reflecting this were decided.
According to the approved plan, Songhyeon Cultural Park will include green areas and other spaces (18,544.20㎡), plazas and roads (6,359.86㎡), water features (330.21㎡), and recreational facilities (631.61㎡). A passenger car parking lot (270 spaces) for local residents and visitors will be built on basement level 1, and a tourist bus parking lot (90 spaces) will be built on basement levels 2 and 3.
The city explained that it systematized pedestrian links with surrounding spaces so the park would connect naturally within the urban context, and placed architectural facilities on the park's perimeter while leaving the center open to create an open view toward Inwang Mountain and Bukak Mountain.
The park will feature the Songhyeon Sanmaru Forest centered on a pine grove, the Soldamchae Hill, the Chagyeong Pergola that applies chagyeong (a technique that uses surrounding scenery as a visual element without contradicting nature), the Songhyeon Waterway that combines channels and waterside vegetation, and shaded resting areas.
At the park's center, the Songhyeon Cultural Plaza, the size of Seoul Plaza (6,200㎡), will be placed. It is planned as a venue where performances, exhibitions, small festivals, and civic programs can be held.
Given the large underground parking facility in the park, the city sought harmony between essential buildings and the park and secured sufficient soil depth on the artificial ground so trees can grow. The underground parking canopy reinterprets the eaves of traditional Korean architecture, applying a three-dimensional design that continues the park from the entrance.
In addition, the city integrated the spatial plan of the park with the Lee Kun-hee Donation Museum (provisional name), to be built on the site's east side, so that circulation would connect naturally. A Songhyeon Cultural Park observatory is planned to be installed in the Lee Kun-hee Donation Museum.
The Songhyeon Cultural Park development project is pushing ahead with the goal of completing design in the first half of this year, publishing the implementation plan notice, starting construction in the second half, and completing in 2029. The project is scheduled to proceed simultaneously with the construction of the Lee Kun-hee Donation Museum.
Kim Yong-hak, Seoul's director-general for future spatial planning, said, "Building Songhyeon Cultural Park is not simply adding one more park, but a project that restores green space in central Seoul and presents a new urban model where culture, arts, and tourism come together," adding, "It will become a signature space where citizens enjoy rest and culture in daily life."