Local design studio Intg has created minimalist interiors informed by traditional Korean architecture for a Seoul bank lounge.
The private lounge was completed for Hana Bank, which is based in Yeouido, the main finance and investment banking district in Seoul, South Korea.
Seoul studio Intg created a two-storey, 1,104 square-metre lounge with VIP zones as well as areas for regular customers, including various meeting spaces.
The studio aimed to design a space that would encourage clients to visit the branch in person in an age when banking is increasingly digital.
When visitors enter the lounge, they are met by a statement glass box in the centre of the space that is filled with seating and side tables, which Intg described as a "floating meeting room".
According to the design studio, the room – which is bordered by a moat of bright blue sand arranged in a swirly formation – takes cues from traditional Asian architecture.
"It is designed to subtly reflect the way people enter living spaces after stepping over a stone in traditional Korean houses," Intg co-founder Daniel Song told Dezeen.
"Separate meeting rooms are placed like islands similar to the Hanok structure," he continued, citing the Korean term for such houses.
Among the minimalist furniture in the meeting room are chubby midnight-blue Kerman sofas by German brand E15, as well as Italian furniture company Cassina's Le Corbusier-style Capitol Complex armchairs.
"While traditionally, bank branches hide meetings room into corners, we placed ours in the middle to make customers feel valued," explained Song.
The studio used stone floors for the room and metal to construct the meeting room in reference to the strength and security of bank safes.
A large, mossy mound of rocks and plants rises up from the ground and adds a touch of nature to the otherwise dark and angular lounge.
The lounge "is designed to melt digital into analogue with an emphasis on tangible experience," Song explained.
Intg (pronounced "in-teg") was co-founded by Daniel Song and Kate Cho and has a portfolio spanning hotels and houses to work and retail spaces.
Other recent projects in banks and financial institutions include Ministry of Design's "banking conservatory" in Singapore and a metal-clad cash-processing centre in Paris by Jean-Paul Viguier.
The photography is courtesy of Intg.