Amsterdam, The Netherlands – UNStudio has designed a sustainable masterplan for Gyeongdo Island, a new 470,000 square metres leisure destination in South Korea where nature plays the leading role. 

In the masterplan for Gyeongdo Island, the buildings and the public spaces centre around the natural environment and the green qualities inherent to the island. All parts of the masterplan offer continuous motion and flow, while the buildings take full advantage of the views and their proximity to nature.

The Korean garden – an important element of Korean culture – acts as the main inspiration for the design of the master plan for Gyeongdo Island. Traditionally, The Korean garden offers a place for human activities within a seamlessly linked natural and manmade environment.

Focusing on sustainable design, both the masterplan and building design follow passive and active strategies to achieve sustainable development. Considering orientation for best solar gain, compact and dense development for efficiency in infrastructure investment and materiality that focus on bio-design, the development offers optimum qualities of sustainability and resiliency.

Pedestrian routes are defined by expansive views, which extend throughout the island and encourage walking and a healthy lifestyle. This framing of views - an important legacy of the Korean garden - is also used in the design of the buildings, maintaining the natural landscape as a continuous theme, inside and out.

The masterplan comprises three distinct neighbourhoods, which spread along the island from north to south and create zones with different degrees of vibrancy and exclusivity: Gyeongdo Gateway (forms the main entrance to the island); Sunrise Waterfront (forms the leisure heart of the island); and Sea Breeze Coast (a neighbourhood offering visitors luxury in nature).