New ‘design spirit’ and apartment design to set Samsung C&T apart
In the last few decades, South Korea’s giant business conglomerates had constructed thousands upon thousands of largely unremarkable residential blocks. Samsung C&T, the construction arm of the South Korean giant, Samsung Corporation, asked us to help distinguish their company-branded apartments from those of their competitors. They were seeking a ‘design spirit’– a strategy and philosophy underpinning the Samsung homes that would set them apart.
Setting the tone for the project was its name – ‘Raemian’ – a Korean word associated with future beauty and well-being.
Services
- Spatial Design
- Design Engineering
- Colour, material & finish
- User Experience & UI
- Trend Forecasting & Vision Setting
Learning
Our London and Seoul design teams came together to run workshops with Samsung C&T’s executives and customers, where we identified a desire for more traditional Korean features with modernity, while incorporating the core values of the Samsung brand: culture, nature and foresight. The design spirit was to be formed around a principle that something contemporary should also create a legacy and reflect Samsung’s place as a world-leading company.
Leaping
We brought Samsung executives to London to visit high-end luxury apartments being constructed in the UK’s capital and together we planted the design strategy at the centre of the conglomerate’s work. We termed the design philosophy and spirit ‘future heritage’.
Over a three-year period, the design strategy was applied to everything from wall finishes to the colour of carpets, the design of kitchens and bathrooms, to outdoor landscaping to the design of major architectural features. Traditional features such as the profile of roofs from traditional Korean buildings were incorporated into contemporary styling. Internally, elements of traditional Korean pottery, the high glaze finish and vivid colours, were reflected in the apartments’ decor.
Landing
Our ‘future heritage’ design vision and attention to detail quickly marked out Raemian’s homes from other mass-built apartment buildings.
Samsung Raemian’s developments began to win design awards and soon became the number one brand with 10,000 apartments being built each year.
Creative Leap
10,000+
Raemian apartments built each year
Other companies have now set up design teams and design divisions, some teams from overseas have even sent engineers to copy everything, but I am not offended. Raemian is the thing of which I am most proud. It is wonderful. It was really important that Samsung’s in-house team could go to London it gave them global awareness, confidence and pride.
Design Division Director at Samsung C&T
