Since its opening in 1995 as a temporary prefab office building, Gwangju Nam-gu office has gone through a series of extensions until it was decided that a new modern office building is urgently required due to dilapidation of the building. Officials weighed options of building a new office or remodeling existing building until it was decided to remodel the erstwhile Fanny Department Store, which had been left deserted since 1995, as its new consolidated office building jointly with Korea Asset Management Corporation. The construction site sits near Baekwoon junction, the old city center of Gwangju, which has been left falling behind along with Fanny Department Store that has been dilapidating for over 15 years, posing various problems for city officials over the management of the deserted building such as the overall chilling effect cast over the city center due to the grotesque appearance of the deserted building; prevailing perception among citizens of the building as a crime-prone spot; and possibility of untoward accidents. All such developments made it urgent to take some public-level action to remedy the deteriorating situation from the perspective of urban rehabilitation (aesthetic improvement, revitalization of the city center, etc.) In conclusion, our designers attempted to offer two solutions for the city through this project: transformation of the aging Nam-gu office into urban-style office building and return of the deserted Fanny Department Store to the public domain.
