This Starbucks Went Viral For Opening A New Location Inside A Century-Old, Historic 'Hanok,' And The Architecture Is Stunning
It probably goes without saying that there are thousands of Starbucks locations around the world (33,833 Starbucks as of 2021, to be exact). I know that I've seen, like, three different Starbucks at one intersection before, and, for the most part, they all have pretty similar interiors and styles.
But the new Starbucks that recently opened in Daegu, South Korea is one of a kind: It's built inside of a restored, century-old hanok — AKA a traditional Korean house dating back to the 14th-century.
Known to be environmentally-friendly, hanoks were often made with natural materials (such as wood, earth, and rock). Their traditionally open designs also intended to invoke a harmonic relationship with the natural world.
The original hanok was built in 1919 and has been redesigned to blend a modern café experience with the rich traditions and history of Daegu, a city known for culture, music and art.
In 2017, UNESCO designated Daegu as a globally recognized "City of Music."
The Starbucks design preserved as much of the hanok's original décor as possible, including the roof tiles, beams, and floorings. This is especially notable as hanoks are built to keep the interior warm in the winter and cool in the summer using ondol and maru.
Ondol, which translates to "warm stones," is traditional Korean underfloor heating. It works by heating a layer of stone beneath the floors via smoke ducts. As the smoke travels through the ducts under the floor from a firebox (in an adjoining room) to the chimney (at the opposite end of the room), heat is transferred to the stone above, warming up the room.
Maru, on the other hand, is a traditional Korean cooling system and refers to the board-floored room at the center of a hanok. It's usually raised off of the ground to allow air to circulate beneath it, allowing the maru to stay cool during hot weather.
Naturally, you don't want to build a house with wooden floors and then use fire to heat said floors, so the hanok is carefully designed to incorporate both ondol and maru to adapt to South Korea's cold, dry winters and hot, humid summers.
To emulate a century-old atmosphere, the Starbucks is split into three distinct spaces: Two interior areas and an outdoor garden. The first interior area looks more like a traditional hanok, with seating installed onto the floor.
The second interior area has tables and chairs, reminiscent of a modern-day café. Both interior areas look out into the tranquil, outdoor garden, and the entire 7,000-square-foot space offers a total of 120 seats.
Plus, to further capture Daegu's artistic scene, Starbucks collaborated with Bang & Olufsen — known for its music systems and high-performance loudspeakers — to include a separate music-listening section in a corner of the hanok, and it includes a fully automatic turntable.
They also installed custom, high-quality speakers throughout the space. Not only does this add to the ambience of the traditional-meets-modern Starbucks, but the companies are planning to host a series of events to commemorate the opening of the space.
