Cargo Lounge — kimnam

Incheon International Airport Cargo Lounge A & B

2023-2025

This building was designed to provide amenities for cargo terminal workers at Incheon Airport, whose facilities were insufficient after the airport’s opening in 2003. In addition to lunchrooms, nap lounges, restrooms, and convenience stores, there was a request to create outdoor areas where workers could sit, relax, or smoke. We envisioned simple, rectangular block-like buildings with minimal interiors, focusing on the interstitial spaces and outdoor areas that would emerge from their arrangement and combination.

We were drawn to the paradoxical image of the rigid, mechanical architectural language of airports and terminals being repurposed as spaces for rest. The wide spans, lightweight structures, and semi-outdoor zones designed for cars and airplanes offer, in a way, a sense of openness. The idea of making these structures even lighter, using the walls that are indifferent, unpretentious became the emotional starting point of this project.