A Sheltered Pause redefining Urban Boundaries
Along Busan’s Jeonridan-gil, traces of the area’s industrial past sit alongside the commercial energy of the present. Aging tool shops stand next to stylish cafés, and the street is almost always dense with people, movement, and noise. Set within this intensity, Urban Egg takes a different approach from the typical getaway that seeks complete distance from everyday life. Rather than leaving the city behind, it creates a brief pause within it, a calm pocket where one can stop and catch a breath.
The architect describes the building as “an egg within the city.” Instead of turning inward behind a single solid wall, it is conceived as a shelter that receives the city’s flow while still offering protection. The project’s central aim is to create a place where one can step slightly away from urban energy and recover a personal rhythm.
To secure privacy in a dense streetscape, the building is organized not as one thick barrier but as a series of layered walls that wrap a central core. These walls do more than block views. The gaps between them pull light and air deep inside. Terraces and water elements are set within these in-between spaces, allowing occupants to look out at the city through a calmer, more controlled frame. Comfort here does not come from total isolation, but from boundaries that are carefully tuned.
The transition from street to room reinforces this idea. In place of a conventional elevator or a steep stair, a gently sloping ramp defines the front approach. Moving along this elongated path naturally slows the body. As one adjusts to the incline, the pace shifts as well. It becomes a quiet psychological crossing from the city’s bustle into a more settled space of rest.
Water is a recurring presence throughout the guest rooms reached by the ramp. On the fourth and fifth floors, the steady sound of running water softly overlays the noise from the street below. Paired with moments of visual openness, it deepens the sense of calm. Here water is not a decorative gesture, but a medium that eases senses worn down by constant stimulation.
The exterior is finished in board-formed exposed concrete, with the grain of the timber left imprinted on the surface. This warmth in the texture softens the concrete’s coolness and resonates with the area’s rough industrial character. The material choice helps the building sit comfortably within its surroundings while offering a stable, tactile presence for those inside.
Urban Egg is not a hideaway sealed off from the city. Through layered walls, a gentle slope, and carefully composed sounds of water, it proposes a different way of inhabiting the urban environment. Staying here means shielding oneself from the city’s relentless pace while becoming more aware of the different speeds at which one’s inner world and the world outside continue to move.
Project: Urban Egg / Location: 665-17, 10 Jeonpo-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan, Korea / Architect: U.GA Architects (Daewoo Yu) / Project team: Hyokyeong Kwon, Soonjung Shim, Dongryun Kim, Jeongmin Yang / Project management: Soto Architects / Structural engineer: Design of Structural Engineering Co., Ltd. / Electrical and mechanical engineer: TS E&A, LEE JUNG ENGINEERING / Contractor: WIZ General Construction / Client: JA Holdings / Use: commercial, accommodation, storage / Site area: 173.00 m² / Bldg. area: 134.17m² / Gross floor area: 454.19m² / Bldg. coverage ratio: 77.55% / Gross floor ratio: 262.53% / Bldg. scale: five stories above ground / Height: 21.3m / Parking: 2.4 cars / Structure: RC / Exterior finishing: exposed board-formed concrete / Interior finishing: exposed concrete / Design: 2023.6.14~2024.1.19 / Construction: 2024.5.23~2025. 4.21 / Completion: 2025. 4.21 / Photograph: ©Sangin Nam (courtesy of the architect)
