A projected view of INNOCEAN's new office building in Gangnam. Residents of A Apartment claim that their sunlight rights will be violated if the new office building is established on the main road as planned, behind which A Apartment is located. /Courtesy of A Apartment Emergency Response Committee

INNOCEAN, an advertising company affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, is in the process of constructing a new headquarters near Gangnam Station in Seoul. Residents of a mixed-use apartment complex right next to the new headquarters site are expressing their opposition, stating that "sunlight will not come in at all and polluted air will be emitted from the ventilation, making it impossible to open the windows."

According to reports from Seocho District in Seoul on the 27th, INNOCEAN plans to build a new headquarters with 8 basement floors and 19 above-ground floors on a site of 2036.6 square meters (approximately 617 pyeong) near Gangnam Station. INNOCEAN purchased the site for 184.9 billion won in December 2023. INNOCEAN has submitted a building permit application to Seocho District, which is currently under review.

Next to the planned site for the INNOCEAN headquarters is Apartment A, which consists of 138 units across one 24-story building completed in 2002. Located in a commercial area, the site has a high floor area ratio of 969%.

Graphic=Jung Seo-hee

So far, Apartment A has reportedly faced no significant issues regarding sunlight rights. Currently, a three-story commercial building stands on the site of the planned INNOCEAN headquarters. Of the 138 units in Apartment A, 112 units face west, but excluding some lower-floor units, sunlight reportedly comes into the homes well in the afternoon.

However, if the INNOCEAN headquarters is built as planned, the situation could change. According to data presented by INNOCEAN to residents of Apartment A, the new headquarters will be taller than the apartment. The distance between the new headquarters and Apartment A is also close, at 12 meters for the lower floors and 18.5 meters for the upper floors.

According to a sunlight simulation report prepared by a real estate appraisal company commissioned by INNOCEAN, 57% of all units in Apartment A, or 79 units, currently face no issues regarding sunlight rights. However, the analysis suggests that if the INNOCEAN headquarters is built as planned, all units in the apartment, including these 79 units, will be affected by sunlight rights violations. It will reportedly result in more than two hours without sunlight for every home on the winter solstice, the day with the shortest sunlight of the year.

Residents of Apartment A are raising other concerns. They state that the ventilation system in the INNOCEAN headquarters building, which emits polluted air, is directed toward the front of Apartment A, making it difficult to open the windows. Additionally, the distance of less than 20 meters between the INNOCEAN headquarters and Apartment A raises concerns about privacy violations if curtains are not drawn all day.

In response, an official from INNOCEAN noted to ChosunBiz that "there is no official position on this matter."

A real estate appraisal firm analyzed the sunlight amount before and after the construction of the new office building at the request of INNOCEAN. According to this data, if INNOCEAN's new office building is constructed as currently designed, all 138 households of A Apartment will have their sunlight rights infringed. /Courtesy of A Apartment Emergency Response Committee

Meanwhile, Apartment A is also a mixed-use complex built in a commercial area, and under building regulations, there are no measures to respond to violations of sunlight rights. Unlike residential areas, commercial zones are the places where office buildings are concentrated, so the regulations and protections for sunlight rights are relatively weak. However, if business activities result in obstruction of sunlight, airflow interference, or impaired views, the Environmental Dispute Mediation Damage Relief Committee under the Ministry of Environment is mandated by the Environmental Dispute Mediation Damage Relief Act to pursue damage relief.

Hong Mo (57), the head of the emergency countermeasure committee for Apartment A, stated, "We are not saying that the new headquarters should not be built at all, but we are asking for a guarantee of the quality of life that residents deserve. If the headquarters construction is pushed through as currently planned, it would be corporate tyranny."

Residents of Apartment A mentioned that INNOCEAN should reference the case of the 'Boutique Monaco' officetel nearby. This officetel was completed by GS Engineering and Construction in 2008 after prior consultation with the residents of Apartment A regarding the building's design. As a result, a design change was made to build columns without filling the first-floor space, allowing residents of Apartment A to pass through to Seocho-daero.