Haenglim

About Haenglim Architecture Group

Haenglim Architecture Group, known in Korean as Haenglim Comprehensive Architects, is a South Korean architecture and engineering practice that has been contributing to Korean modern architecture since 1989. The firm operates from a headquarters in Gwacheon, having relocated to a purpose-built new head office, and works under the brand line Design of You.

The practice brings together specialists across architecture, urban planning, development and interior design in a single organisation, and states its mission in terms of social impact: that its work should have a positive effect on society, designing a better world one space at a time.

Services

• Architecture – building design that the firm frames as satisfying both aesthetic quality and functional performance.
• Construction management – project and construction management covering the full building life cycle rather than the design phase alone.
• Urban planning – district and city-scale planning work.
• Development – development advisory and project structuring.
• Interior design – interiors coordinated with the base building.

Carrying architecture and construction management together is significant in the Korean market, where large public projects frequently require both design capability and formal CM accreditation from a single provider.

Technical Position and Research

Haenglim positions itself on technical depth rather than style. The firm describes itself as the leading technical patent holder in its industry and as one of the top five specialised architecture companies in the Republic of Korea. It maintains an in-house research centre staffed by dedicated researchers, and holds an extensive portfolio of patent certificates alongside ISO certification.

Its certifications include ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety management, both awarded as part of a sustained programme of formalising the firm's operating systems.

Projects

The portfolio spans cultural, civic, educational, research and commercial work, much of it publicly commissioned:

Cultural and civic. The Seoul Craft Museum, Bucheon Arts Center, Jecheon Arts Center, Ulsan Metropolitan Library, and the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office.

Research and technology. The Quantum Computing Cluster at Yonsei University International Campus and the Pohang 4th Generation Light Source, a major synchrotron research facility.

Public administration and convention. The second headquarters of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service and the Sejong Convention Center.

Mixed-use and infrastructure. V-City in Siheung, Pyeongchon THE SHOP Central City in Anyang, and the Songreen Bridge in Hwaseong.

International. The Huludao Sports Stadium in Liaoning Province, China.

Recognition

Haenglim's work has been selected for the competition section of the Venice Architecture Biennale, and the firm has won the Digital Architecture Grand Prize, receiving the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport award. Leadership passed to Onejae Lee as chief executive in recent years, continuing a period of organisational change that has included the firm's first company-wide town hall meetings as part of a shift toward a more communication-led structure.

Why Haenglim Matters to the AEC Industry

Haenglim is a useful window into how large Korean practices operate. Three characteristics stand out: the combination of design and construction management under one roof, which differs from the sharper design-versus-delivery split common in Europe and North America; an explicit emphasis on patents and in-house research as competitive assets rather than marketing points; and a portfolio weighted toward publicly procured cultural, civic and research buildings. For anyone studying the Korean market or looking at how technical research can be embedded inside an architecture business, the firm is a substantive reference point.