Bio & Healthcare Group

It is said that the brand SAMOO pops up first in people’s mind when it comes to “hospital design”. We would like to introduce Bio & Healthcare Group of SAMOO Architects & Engineers (“SAMOO”), which is the only design team in the Korean architectural design industry that is dedicated to Bio & Healthcare sector, leading this specific field based on its top performance result from home and abroad.  ExpertiseStarted as Hospital Design Team in 1999, Bio & Healthcare Group (“B&H Group”) has grown into the biggest expert organization in Korea for hospital and bio-facility design with near 40 employees in the team. Based on its abundant and diverse amount of project experiences and accumulated know-hows from design data, as well as through in-house training programs and R&D activities including seminars and web-magazine publications, the Group is establishing its concrete foothold as an expert organization. B&H Group: Areas of Expertise B&H Group is providing all-round services from pre-design activities to working design, CA and further to PM. It continues to expand its field of design to cover not only medical facilities for patient examination and treatment, but also R&D facilities, GLP-compliant pre-clinical animal test facilities, GMP-compliant medical device and drug manufacturing facilities, and GCP-compliant pre-marketing clinical trial facilities for efficacy testings. < Areas of Expertise: B&H Group >HealthcareHolding an unrivaled dominance in medical facilities sector, B&H Group has been providing specialized design services to all sectors of the healthcare industry based on its experience of project delivery for more than 22,000 patient beds over the past 30 years, covering a wide spectrum of facilities from tertiary hospitals with over 1,000 patient beds to specialized centers for specific disease and treatment such as cancer centers, rheumatoid arthritis centers, children’s hospitals, and trauma centers, and further to medical R&D centers and clinical trial centers. Based on its accumulated know-how and data, it provides speedy and professional services from a pre-design stage, being involved in medical planning works such as master planning, future extension planning, calculation of patient beds, demand estimation for clinical spaces, and space program planning. Then, the design stage is carried out by a dedicated project team that consists of experts including medical planner, medical designer, project architecture and etc. One of the strength points SAMOO boasts is that it can provide the optimal services to the clients based on its close cooperation and collaboration with internal expert teams such as ENG Team, Interior Design Team, Sustainable Design Part and etc. It is further expanding its areas of service to medical planning for special fields (clean room/Proton, Particle Therapy facilities) as well as specialized consulting for medical equipments/vertical transportation systems/POE (Post Occupancy Evaluation). < Relationship Map by Department/Team >                                             < Space Program Analysis & Recommendtion >Bio & ResearchStretching out from its original focus of clinical research and trial facilities, Bio & Research of B&H Group is providing services to virtually all spectrum of bio industry including pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverages, Cosmetics, Heteroplastic Transplant, Brain Science, Medical Devices, and etc. based on its accumulated know-how and experiences.In designing bio industry facilities, it is important that the design team is involved from the very initial stage of the project, working side-by-side with research field set-up and planning, in order to achieve the most effective result. B&H Group participates from the initial concept design stage, providing through-out and all-round integrated service across the whole construction process including equipment selection and installation by GMP and GLP planner and Equipment Coordinator.< Example: Bio Facilities Design >Green & BIM TechnologyDue to the high usage of energy by medical facilities and bio facilities, it is all the more important to apply sustainable design technology in these kind of constructions. SAMOO is leading this area by applying the SAMOO Sustainable Design Guidelines it has developed through extensive research works in building environment analysis, air flow analysis, energy simulation, and etc. < Example: Sustainability Review for Medial Facilities >B&H Group is also highly recognized by its technological excellence, in that it applies BIM (Building Information Modeling) in the whole process of design from the initial schematic design to working drawing in order to achieve the best possible result while using VR technology in user meetings to allow the client better understand the design plan.Training ProgramB&H Group provides systematic and sectoral training programs such as beginner’s trainings, expert seminars by external lecturers, intensive research sessions for specific sectors, and etc. in order to nurture in-house expert professionals such as medical/GMP/GLP/LAB planners, designers, and equipment coordinators over a mid-to-long term period.Data Collection/ApplicationB&H Group operates an exclusive server to classify and store data such as project materials, training programs, seminar materials, laws & regulations, research papers, and etc. The data server is managed and organized by a dedicated server manager, who is taking care of the server beyond simple data collection, allowing B&H Group to accumulate the highest-quality expert data in medical and bio facilities sector of Korea. It also pays much attention in studying overseas medical and bio facilities projects, design methodologies, and research works, while maintaining close and robust network with relevant academia and industry, so as to read the latest trend of the industry and promptly cope with changes. VisionBio-health industry is rapidly growing as a leading industry of the future, encompassing Bio-medical sector, which develops products and technologies for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease based on its innovation hub of hospitals, as well as Digital Healthcare sector, which measures and manages individual health status using informtion and communications technology. In order to support such new growth engine, it is necessary to build and secure medical and bio facilities. B&H Group is exerting its utmost efforts to provide a whole-new level of services in this field with its differentiated and innovative technologies and design.< Bio-health Policy & B&H Group’s Vision >  

The 16th SAMOO Design Workshop (SDW)

The SDW (SAMOO Design Workshop) celebrated its 16th anniversary with prospective architects to provide the opportunity for challenge and growth and help them discover their key architectural talents. The SDW was held from August 19 to 23 at KYOWON Training Institute with 42 students. It is a place where students can freely express their ideas about architecture and communicate with other participants they meet during the 5 days and 4 nights workshop. The participants and the interlocutors poured all their energy into this meaningful and special opportunity to only focus on architecture. SAMOO will continue to work hard to provide challenging and passionate architects with opportunities for growth in the future, and we ask for your support to help SDW continue to grow.   Group A instructed by DongHoon Lee  Group B instructed by HyungSeok Oh  Group C instructed by MinJung Cho  Group D instructed by Jong Yoon  Group E instructed by YoungChul Shin  Group F instructed by JuByung Lee    

Winning the IDEA(International Design Excellence Awards) 2019 Gold Award

IDEA, one of the world's top three design awards organized by the Industrial Designers Society of America, the exhibition concept 'Visionary City for UIA Seoul' won the Gold Award, the highest award in the Environments category.  [Link to news]  

Innovation with Technology: Advanced Technology Consulting

SAMOO Architects & Engineers Co., Ltd. (“SAMOO”) is the top design firm in South Korea and has ranked fifth and eighth of the manufacturing sector of ENR International Design Firm in 2017 and 2019 respectively. We are pleased to introduce Advanced Technology Consulting team that has been leading in engineering and design for decades with expertise in manufacturing and industrial facility design. Who is Advanced Technology Consulting?Advanced Technology Consulting (“team”) is a specialized organization of engineers and designers to support high-tech and industrial plant design projects. On a mission to enhance their engineering capability, the team not only organizes of design database and standard, provides quality management and technical support of the design team, manages BIM planning and standardization, but also researches on next-generation “Future FAB”, develops automatic application technology based on DT(data technology), and establishes guideline and standard for safety design measures.  What does Advanced Technology Consulting do?Design Standard and Quality ManagementWhen multiple design and construction projects run simultaneously at the same time, it is essential to collect database and issues form each project, and to establish a communication channel to share the database between project sites. Every month, the team collects and classifies the project data and report from each on-going projects, and updates the design standard based on the accumulated data to improve standardized drawing and document quality. Additionally, they continually update tools for drawing quality management such as building code and QC checklists, and standard detail drawings, and run internal Peer Review team and Design Review Meeting to review drawings and construction documents for all projects before the delivery. Recently, as safety has resurfaced to a critical issue in the industry, Design For Safety (DFS) became a major design consideration. The team leads in implementing safety design standards for industrial facilities to prevent and eliminate construction safety accident at the design phase. In 2018, the team established DFS Checklist, as a guideline for safety design, and they are currently working with a global consulting firm to study disaster prevention and DFS standards for all stages of design and construction.R&D and Prep for Total ENG ServiceAs our clients demand more advanced engineering service and technical, specific and specialized requirements, the Advanced Technology Consulting team continuously conduct research and development to internalize core design technology and expand automatic design applications for all stages of project based on existing design expertise and performance data. The team has designed and developed three application programs to aid FAB-design processes. First, FAB performance prediction program is used to predict building utility usage and energy usage pattern. The specification analysis program can verify and automate the consistency of Tool Utility Matrix, and lastly, FAB automatic zoning program calculates facility area based on cleanroom area and distribute automatically based on preset zoning logic.< Energy Usage Pattern result from FAB Performance Prediction Program > Furthermore, they are securing their technological competitiveness by assigning specialist in CFD, structure, civil engineering, and air abatement systems for technical development and support for various projects. The team installed an in-house CFD tool and conducted an airflow analysis case study of the cleanroom to accumulate technical data and provide an optimal design for a cleanroom environment with visualization to the clients. They also provide technical support to the design team to derive optimal design from concrete CFD analysis results, such as airflow analysis in ducts and pipes, cooling tower, and office air conditioning analysis. < Basic Cleanroom Modeling and CFD Case Study Simulation > The micro-vibration control technology is the core structural technology of semiconductor and display FAB design. To internalize the micro-vibration technology, with our Ph.D. structural engineer in charge, we have recruited a micro-vibration specialist as technical advisor to collaborate on research on vibration transmission control method of equipment foundation, grille beam, and structure by 2020. < MIDAS NFX Micro-vibration Velocity Contour > BIM Management an Automation Program DevelopmentFor the first time in Korea, SAMOO introduced BIM in industrial facility design and soon reached global top-level BIM technology. The team established BIM manual and technical standard for FAB facility to standardize BIM performance. Currently, they are developing an integrated solution to manage both standard BIM library for FAB and work environment. As part of the modeling automation strategy, the team has developed numerous automatic applications, such as NWC and RVT file automatic conversion and automatic modeling program for a piping nozzle, access floor, system ceiling, and cable trays to increase efficiency and reduce manual modeling time. They wish to continue developing more application to automatize BIM. < Automatic Modeling Program for System Ceiling, Access Floor, Cable Tray > Preparation for the FutureAdvanced Technology Consulting team is currently developing a next-generation model of FAB based on accumulated design know-how and data from 35 years of experience. By experimenting with innovative ideas and reviewing various types of FAB in addition to existing double-stacked FABs, they are strengthening their engineering capability hoping to differentiate from their competitor, secure their position as Korea-top cleanroom design firm, and gain an edge in global competition.    

Winning the 37th Seoul Architecture Awards

The Seoul Botanic Park Project, which was conducted to provide a healing space in the inner city of modern people's busy lives, has been selected as the winner and the Special Prize for Citizens' Compassion in the Seoul Architecture Awards. 

BANK of KOREA, Gyeonggi Branch Office

Winner BANK of KOREA, Gyeonggi Branch Office[Design Summary]Project : BANK of KOREA, Gyeonggi Branch OfficeUsage : OfficesLocation : Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaGFA : 20,015.17 m²Floors : 5F / B3

Ideas Beyond Green Sustainable Design Part

There are many supporting teams of experts within Samoo Architects & Engineers (Samoo) that provide assistance to the design function of the organization. We would like to introduce one of these teams of experts: Sustainable Design Part within ENG Team, which is in charge of eco-friendly and sustainable design. What do we do at Sustainable Design Part? Among many technical support parts under ENG Team, Sustainable Design Part is specialized in providing environment-friendly design support. Based on sustainability-related know how and technology, the Part is participating in around 50 design projects every year, providing professional consulting. Its areas of expertise include: i) eco-friendly design strategy development based on climate analysis, ii) environment-related simulation such as building energy simulation (ES) based on sunlight and solar radiation, and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), as well as iii) consulting on global certification and Korean sustainable building-related laws & regulations. More recently, consulting demands on light reflection, condensation, or stack effect are increasing backed by the growing interest of clients in sustainability. What makes Sustainable Design Part special?Green Tomorrow, a project which Samoo participated not only in the consulting and design stages, but also in the construction process, is the first-ever zero-energy building in Korea and the first building that has achieved the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum rating in the nation. This masterpiece, built 10 years ago, was in itself a concentrate of all the environment-friendly technologies there were back then, and it holds significance in that it has made the Sustainable Design Part what it is today. Had the Sustainable Design Part simply stayed as a supporting function to the design division, it would not have become the technical expert it is today. Sustainable Design Part is a supporting function, but, in many cases, it actually designed the lay out of sustainability-focused projects and provided environment-related consulting directly and solely to the clients. These experiences played a crucial role in accumulating the know how and professional technologies.When it comes to building an environment-friendly building, understanding the unique demand of the project and choosing the right technology, be it simple or high-tech, is important. That is, the work has to go beyond the simple combination of general technologies out there. At Sustainable Design Part, professional architects specialized in the environment-friendly field and engineers of LEED AP, CFD, or building energy work hand-in-hand and in close cooperation to present the clients with an optimal-possible environment-friendly architecture. Environmentally-sustainable building is not valued by the technical items applied, but by the energy performance realized by those technologies. What really matters, in fact, is whether the level of illuminance is achieved with daylight as planned, whether the energy conservation is successfully achieved, or whether the natural ventilation is working. To ensure such performance, Sustainable Design Part runs simulations on building environment, CFD, and building energy with its own capacity, thereby providing data-based and trustworthy sustainable buidling design. As a result, the Part has been releasing a series of publications namely, LEED Guidebook (2010), ECOTECT Handbook (2012), Eco Factory Global Design Guideline (2015), CFD Project Casebook (2017), and Envelope Design Guide (2018).  What is our core strength?Sunlight analysis, for optimal building environmentSunlight is crucial in creating healthy indoor environment and securing a good amount of daylight. These days, more people are aware of the importance of sunlight, and its analysis results are often debated in courts with the introduction of Educational and Environmental Impact Assessment System in Korea. To cope with such trend and improve the credibility of its sunlight environment analysis result, Sustainable Design Part has adopted analysis tools specialized in daylight analysis such as ECOTECT or Sanalyst. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) Analysis, a topic of growing attentionThough invisible, fluid constantly flows within an architecture, and CFD simulation helps predict the flow of such invisible fluid. Based on the simulation result, Sustainable Design Part provides consulting on wind environment, thermal comfort, optimization of HVAC system, double-skin facade, pollutants dispersion, etc. With the growing number of high-rise residential buildings, more people are suffering from issues of stack effect, such as elevator disfunctioning and inability to open elevator doors due to a pressure difference, or spread of smell from a restaurant to the entire building. Sustainable Design Part of Samoo developed the “Design Guideline for Reduction of Stack Effect”, based on which it delivers a differentiated consulting.Insulation/Condensation Consulting to Ensure Basic Building PerformanceSimply developing and using thicker insulator is no longer enough to prevent energy loss and meet the thermal insulation standards of Korea. Just like a swimming tube loses all its air through a tiny hole, a thermal bridge can cause significant heat loss and dew condensation. Sustainable Design Part performs insulation/condensation consulting based on its examination on high condensation risk areas and heat transfer simulation results.Daylight Reflection on Building Facade, One of the Recent Issues in Building EnvironmentAlong with the trend of larger buildings with bigger windows inevitably comes the issue of daylight reflection. Though it is tricky to quantify the correct amount of damage from daylight reflection as it changes every minute and second, Sustainable Design Part is providing related consulting based on ECOTECT Analysis, a construction environment analysis program.What we do to prepare for the next stage?Climate Analysis Platform based on Business Intelligence (BI)Sustainable Design Part has recently developed the “Global Climate Analysis Platform” based on BI technology. This remarkable plateform generates not only the local climate data but also various unique visualization automatically. Furthermore, it provides the user with an appropriate eco-friendly design guide for a chosen location.Introduction of Environmental Analysis based on Graphical Algorithm Editor Integraded Design Tools and BIM (Building Information Modeling)Many analysis tools have been developed for environmental analysis of buildings, but some does not support the function the user needs, while others may not be suitable for effective parametric analysis. Against such backdrop, Sustainable Design Part is building an analysis script based on grapical algorithm editor-intergrated design tools such as Grasshopper or Dynamo. Sustainable Design Part plans to bring its environmental consulting to a more sophisticated level by applying such new tools to a wider range of analytic areas such as sunlight/solar radiation, building energy, and daylight relfection. 

Banghwa District 3 Apartment, Housing Reconstruction

WinnerBanghwa District 3 Apartment, Housing Reconstruction[Design Summary]Project : Banghwa District 3 Apartment, Housing ReconstructionUsage : Apartment, Service FacilitiesLocation : 615-103, Banghwa-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Republic of KoreaGFA : 261,031.49 m²Floors : 15F / B2  

KECA Human Resources Development Institute, O-song

WinnerKECA Human Resources Development Institute, O-song[Design Summary]Project : KECA Human Resources Development Institute, O-songUsage : Research & ScienceLocation : 180-4, Jeongjung-ri, Osong-eup, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Republic of KoreaGFA : 25,431 m²Floors : 8F / B1  

Shinbanpo 25th Apartment, Housing Reconstruction

WinnerShinbanpo 25th Apartment, Housing Reconstruction[Design Summary]Project : Shinbanpo 25th Apartment, Housing ReconstructionUsage : Apartment, Service FacilitiesLocation : 136, Jamwon-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, Republic of KoreaGFA : 67,197m²Floors : 35F / B3  [View Related Articles]