OMA / AMO has completed a prototype showroom for the Hyundai motor company’s flagship car brand Genesis in Seoul, presenting cars like "an art object" within a calm and grey-coloured backdrop to ease painful negotiations. 

Located in Seoul’s Gangnam business district, OMA / AMO's new design approach explores a new kind of a dealership, presented as the new global prototype for Genesis stores worldwide. 

Image © Shinji Takagi, courtesy of OMA

"AMO and Hyundai have sought to create a calm, sumptuously spartan store, which does not evoke a conventional car dealership but rather an exhibition space in the classic sense," said OMA / AMO.

"The total result is a more private, interesting, and permissive setting for the interactions among buyer, seller and object."

Dubbed as Genesis Gangnam, the project unfolds as a space of gradual discovery for both visitors and potential clients. The studio makes just slivers of cars visible from the street. Meandering spaces draw the buyer through automotive galleries punctuated by open sales séparées and option desks with paint and leather samples. 

Image © June Young Lim, Courtesy of Hyundai

The visit culminates in a dramatic test-drive room with photo-studio light projected from either side and a mirrored inner garage wall on which the driver can picture herself as the new owner.

The project was led by partner and director of OMA Asia Chris van Duijn, AMO director Samir Bantal, and project architect Shinji Takagi. 

Image © Shinji Takagi, courtesy of OMA

"We created an environment that tells more about the car and the Genesis brand than any logo, poster or LED display would be able to. The space is dominated by the total absence of any traditional marketing tool: no clutter, no distraction," said Chris van Duijn, partner and director of OMA / AMO Asia.

"Genesis Gangnam is designed around the car and provides a context for a multiplicity of associations – or none at all, allowing each customer their own human-car experience."

Image © Silvia Sandor, courtesy of OMA

Encompassing a total of 1,410-square-metre area, the studio created a fluid space that is quite different from typical sales spaces - all cars are displayed on shiny floors; sealed rooms for stressful negotiation with the opponent – which facilities only purchase. The Genesis Gangnam emphasizes the beauty and possibilities of the car, introducing the vehicle as "art object" and the buying process as a calm selection of options to be curiously explored. 

In the project, as it can bee seen from its flat internal space, the focus is solely on the car, its supremacy reinforced through a palette of muted color and inviting material - by only using concrete, copper, felt, oak, leather - depending on the time of day, it can be gently or stridently lit from above by a diaphanous, stretched ceiling.

Image © Silvia Sandor, courtesy of OMA

"Both the car and showroom embody modernity, but they contrast in character: this timeless space of the dealership offers a platform for flexibility – ready for continually changing expressions of the Genesis brand, always state of the art," said Samir Bantal, AMO director and project leader.

"As a car enthusiast myself, it was a particular pleasure to lead the work on a new concept for automotive retail which is more in line with the way people buy cars now. After 10 years since our last project in Korea, we are honored to return and work for the leading company of a crucial national industry," he added.

Image © Silvia Sandor, courtesy of OMA

"Car shops, formerly the prime sales venue for cars, are no longer the exclusive setting in which cars are branded and presented to customers. Multichannel points of sales enable customers to choose between brands and models before entering the car shop; as a result, 90% of the customers who visit a car store have already chosen a model in advance," stated in a project description. 

Image © June Young Lim, courtesy of Hyundai

"Under the pressure of the increased fragmentation of sales and in response to changing consumer habits, the automotive retail store has increasingly turned into a space for marketing and visual branding. This is reflected in the design of the retail space: the ubiquitous vitrine typology has created a mish-mash of brands and product."

Image © June Young Lim, courtesy of Hyundai

The Genesis Space Identity concept developed by AMO revisits the conventional norm of dealership in the automotive industry. More than an overt sales and display environment, AMO created a store design inwhich there is a subtler unpacking of Genesis’ message. 

Image © June Young Lim, courtesy of Hyundai

Following AMO’s research into the interaction between architecture and branding, Genesis Gangnam Store treats car display as curation, breaking away with the commonplace practice of showing as many models as possible. To emphasize the design and craftsmanship of the car, the models on display are placed against a neutral backdrop of grey concrete and lit from above by a bright ceiling.

Image © June Young Lim, courtesy of Hyundai

"Typically, the design of an automotive retail space includes large window shops that disclose the interior in one glance," emphasised OMA.

Furthermore, to mute the distracting presence of sales activities, the purchasing process is placed in a sequence of independent rooms. Furniture is blended into the separate rooms by using the same color and material as the space.

Image © June Young Lim, courtesy of Hyundai

Image © June Young Lim, courtesy of Hyundai

Image © June Young Lim, courtesy of Hyundai

Genesis analysis. Image © OMA

Genesis analysis. Image © OMA

Genesis program boxes concept. Image © OMA

Genesis program boxes concept. Image © OMA

Genesis concept plan. Image © OMA

Genesis model. Image © OMA

Genesis model. Image © OMA

First floor plan. Image © OMA

Second floor plan. Image © OMA

Project facts

Status: Completed
Client: Hyundai Motor Company

Location: Seoul, South Korea

Site: 1410 m2
Program: Showroom

Partner-in-Charge: Chris van Duijn
AMO Director: Samir Bantal
Project Architect: Shinji Takagi
Team: Alan Song, Alessandro Bonfiglio, Fernando Ocana, Silvia Sandor, Vincent Kersten

Collaborators
Clients design team: HMC Creative Works
Local Architect: Innocean Worldwide
Local Contractor: Janghak Construction
Lighting Consultant: Mavericks
Sound Consultant: Music infinity, Geniune Consulting

Top image © June Young Lim, Courtesy of Hyundai

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