In South Korea, an officetel ( ko, 오피스텔, a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsstudio apartment A studio apartment, also known as a studio flat ( UK), a self-contained apartment (Nigeria), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya) or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment (rarely a condo) in which the normal functions of a number of ro ...

or studio flat. An officetel is designed to be a partially self-contained building, such that its occupants can live and work in the same building, minimizing commute time. Because of the convenience of having daily routines located in one building, a significant proportion of the officetel's inhabitants include lawyers, accountants, tax accountants, professors, and artists. Office space is usually parceled out or leased to trading companies and small- to medium-sized businesses. Officetels are mainly found downtown or around major transportation hubs. As the scale of construction grows over time, officetels tend to offer more commercial and housing features through amenities like sports centers and shopping facilities. After the

Asian financial crisis of 1997 The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

, the construction of officetels has increased rapidly due to governmental deregulations, and they are now taking a substantial portion of the housing market in the

Seoul Metropolitan Area The Seoul Capital Area (SCA), Sudogwon (, ) or Gyeonggi region (), is the metropolitan area of Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province, located in north-west South Korea. Its population of 26 million (as of 2020) is ranked as the fifth larges ...

Features

Officetel parcels are commonly 50 to 100 m² in size. Most officetel residential spaces are a

studio apartment A studio apartment, also known as a studio flat ( UK), a self-contained apartment (Nigeria), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya) or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment (rarely a condo) in which the normal functions of a number of ro ...

with bathroom, kitchen, and bed areas. Basic furnishings are usually included with an officetel lease. It is currently illegal to have a tub or balcony in an officetel.

Ondol Ondol (; , Hangul: 온돌, 溫堗, ) or gudeul (Hangul: 구들, ) in Korean traditional architecture, is underfloor heating that uses direct heat transfer from wood smoke to heat the underside of a thick masonry floor. In modern usage it refe ...

heating systems were initially prohibited, but the Ministry of Territories and Oceans Decree 2010-351 permitted ondol floor heating up to 85 m².

History

The first officetel was built in Mapo,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

by the Korea Development Corporation in 1985.Morris, Joe. ''Lovenests: Newlyweds of the Asian Tigers''. HarperCollins, New York, 1996. p. 77. After that, demand increased, so construction companies and housing cooperations took part in the growing the trend of building officetels.

References

Apartment types House types Housing in South Korea {{SouthKorea-stub