'Suwon Convention Center' by DA Group and Samwoo Architects wins Grand Prize at the Gyeonggi-do Architecture and Culture Awards

DA Group Architects and Samwoo Architects won the grand prize at this year's Gyeonggi-do Architectural Culture Awards. With a higher response rate than last year, the proportion of public buildings among this year's winners has increased.

According to the architectural industry on the 22nd, the '25th Gyeonggi-do Architectural Culture Award' was judged, and the Suwon Convention Center, designed by DA Group Architects and Samwoo Architects, won the grand prize in the use approval category.

The Suwon Convention Center is an exhibition center built by Suwon City, Gyeonggi-do, in the Gwanggyo district, and was completed in March last year. Based on the motif of a 'square', the center features an open plaza, sky park, and light clouds that anyone can visit and enjoy, and organically connects the urban environment of the central district with the natural environment of the lake park.

The Gold Prize was awarded to 'Kerencia Yangpyeong', designed by Theere Architects, and 'Gwanggyo Green Forest Library', designed by Geumsung Architects.

Public buildings stood out in this year's competition. Including the Suwon Convention Center and Gwanggyo Green Forest Library, 40 percent of the 10 winners in the Approved Use category were publicly built. Last year, only two public buildings won the award, accounting for 22% of the total.

Among this year's winners, in addition to the grand prize and gold medal winners, KKKL Architects won the silver medal for Hadaewon Happiness House. The 'Yeonmu-dong Public Parking Lot' designed by Yoojangdang Architects won the bronze award.

“As excellent public buildings have been built in Gyeonggi-do in recent years, I think that the proportion of public works has naturally increased in the winners of the Architectural Culture Awards,” said an organizer, adding, “We do not differentiate between public and private buildings in our evaluation.”

The Gyeonggi-do Architectural Culture Award is the main event of the Gyeonggi-do Architectural Culture Festival, organized by the Gyeonggi-do Architectural Association, the Korean Institute of Architects, and others, and celebrated its 25th edition this year. Works were accepted in two categories, including approved buildings and planned works, and 16 main prizes, including the Governor's Award and the Hwaseong Mayor's Award, will be awarded.

This year's open call for submissions included 107 works in the use approval category and 200 works in the planning category. The results will be finalized next week after an appeal period. The winning works will be unveiled on the Gyeonggi Architecture and Culture Festival's website on the 24th of next month.

An official from the Gyeonggi-do Architectural Association said, “We received a higher response than last year in the use approval category, and we conducted the judging fairly over three rounds.” “It is currently difficult to rent exhibition halls, so we decided to use online to display the winning works.”