Urban regeneration project for Cheonan Dongnam-gu government office

Cheonan Station and its surrounding area, lined with a variety of stores, a traditional market and an underground shopping area, was crowded with a large number of people. Since the 1990s, however, the Cheonan Station area has been in decline as major administrative agencies moved into the newly developed downtown and the opening of Cheonan Asan Station in 2004 led to weakening the role of Cheonan Station as a significant transportation hub.

Here, the wind of change began to blow: The change started in 2017 when Hyundai E&C kicked off the urban regeneration project for Cheonan Dongnam-gu government office. Designed to create a new economic hub by building public and residential facilities in the old government office site, the project is the country’s first urban regeneration project for which the government, the local government, public institutions and businesses cooperate. Hyundai E&C is taking on full responsibility for operation as well as designing, construction and defect management of the project.

The construction site divided the project into Block 1 (Dongnam-gu government office, Happiness Dormitory and Children’s Center) and Block 2 (Hillstate Cheonan). As a number of buildings are constructed at the limited site, the construction site focused more on dividing construction zones and minimizing interference. The construction began in April 2017, and the construction of Block 1 was completed in December 2019. In March 2020, the opening of the Dongnam-gu government office raised the curtain of the rebirth of the old downtown. Happy Dormitory with 299 rooms will accommodate about 600 university and graduate school students studying in Cheonan and other Chungcheongnam-do areas, and Children’s Center will play a role of a cultural facility through providing cultural and hands-on experience specially designed for children. Hillstate Cheonan, slated to be completed in March 2021, is gaining attention as a new landmark by changing the skyline of the old downtown.

The construction site is making all-out efforts to enhance the construction quality of the apartment complex and other buildings and further ensure “safety” and “win-win relations.” As part of its efforts, the employees and workers contributed to revitalizing the economy of the old downtown by, for example, using local diners near the construction site and leasing offices in empty shopping complexes. In addition, the construction site held a conference on win-win strategies for the old downtown with the client to pay close attention to opinions of local residents. As a result, the project could be conducted without disruption from civil complaints. Technological prowess is another key to the successful management of the project. Hillstate Cheonan adopts the prefabrication method of threaded bars developed by Hyundai E&C. It was designed to prefabricate two-story column rebars at a factory and connect them to bottom rebars at the site. The method can cut down on construction time and prevent accidents such as the collapse of rebars.