'Suwon Jigwan Library Shelves' Wins Korean Design Society President Award at 2026 Korea Public Design Awards
'Suwon Jigwan Library Shelves (止觀書架)' created at the Suwon Lifelong Learning Center has won the Korean Design Society President Award in the Public Space and Architecture category at the '2026 Korea Public Design Awards' hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Craft and Design Foundation.
The Korea Public Design Awards is a competition that recognizes and honors excellent cases and ideas that highlight the social and cultural values of public design and present new possibilities. The awards ceremony for the 2026 Korea Public Design Awards will be held on October 23 at Culture Station Seoul 284 (the former Seoul Station Building).
A total of 17 award-winning works were selected, including the Presidential Award and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award, with Suwon Jigwan Library Shelves selected in the Public Space and Architecture category of the project division. Four organizations jointly receive the award: Suwon Special Metropolitan City, Jigwan Foundation, SK Chemical Co., Ltd., and Lyon Architects.
Suwon Jigwan Library Shelves is a public architecture project that has been newly developed as a 'long-stay integrated humanities and cultural space' where any citizen can freely stay, read books, and contemplate in a space that was previously remodeled from the old Yeonmu Middle School building and used as the Suwon Lifelong Learning Center.
The project began with local research in January 2023, went through design and construction in 2024, and opened in March 2025. The total project budget was 1.33 billion won. The project was pursued with a public-private cooperation structure where Suwon Special Metropolitan City provided space and administrative support, Jigwan Foundation handled concept and space planning, and SK Chemical provided financial support.
The creation of Jigwan Library Shelves stemmed from the recognition that the existing lifelong learning center operated with a focus on program usage such as lectures and lacked "the attractiveness of the space itself and the experience of staying." Through local research, in-depth interviews (FGI), and citizen surveys, the life theme of 'happiness' was embedded throughout the entire space.
The seven existing classroom modules that had a closed corridor structure were integrated and slabs were demolished to reorganize the space into an open and complex area. The pit space discovered during construction—a space for facility maintenance and inspection—was designed as an atrium and garden with naturally stepped benches.
Yang Yong-jun, Director of the Lifelong Learning Division at Suwon City, said, "This award is a result of external recognition of the city's efforts to transform idle public assets into humanities spaces in citizens' daily lives. In the future, we will continue to activate the space based on user experience and expand the public design model of collaboration like Jigwan Library Shelves to other regions."