By Kang Seung-woo
S-Oil moved its head office to a newly-erected building in Mapo, Seoul Monday on its 35th anniversary.
In addition, the Korean oil refiner plans to play a key role in contributing to local communities in terms of culture and art.
Since its foundation in 1976, this marks the first time the company has built its own building. Celebrating its historical move and anniversary on Monday a special event was hosted with a fusion traditional Korean music performance.
“On the occasion of our 35th anniversary, I’m deeply moved to see that we’ve grown into a highly competitive refiner in the world and moved into our own company building for the first time,” said S-Oil CEO Ahmed Subaey.
He added that the Mapo building will serve as the heart of S-Oil by helping the refiner to utilize its resources and capabilities efficiently and pursue sustainable profitable growth in a more convenient working environment.
The new 30-story headquarters with seven floors underground is located next to the Gongdeok intersection and its exterior is in the shape of a yellow sailboat to reflect the historical and geographical meaning of Mapo.
Since it has an intelligent building system (IBS) that performs integrated control of electric, information technology (IT), disaster prevention and other important facilities the new building also presents a highly energy-saving and comfortable office environment.
“We used the smallest number of office partitions to facilitate communication among our employees. However, we arranged the space in a way that preserves individual privacy and increases work engagement. So, the new company building will offer the best working environment to our employees,” an S-Oil official said.
Meanwhile, the firm reached an agreement with Siru, a local culture-sharing network, on the same day to join in a culture and art sharing campaign. Under the agreement, the company will offer its new building as a culture-sharing space where young artists and local communities can exhibit their works or hold performances.
In a related move, the firm plans to support operating costs of local performing arts organizations and allow them to perform twice a month in its new building.
The refiner will also host a concert and distribute rice shaped into fists on the second Wednesday of each month to help undernourished children.