Brand new State Tower to inject fun in business

By Kwaak Je-yup

There is a new office building in town, and it promises much more than just a boring roof over your desk. It aims to provide both business and pleasure in one setting.

The State Tower is the first in the country in its attempt to combine premier hospitality, a London-style social club and office space.

Rising from a partnership between Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management and The Westin Chosun Hotel, the tower stands on almost 4,700 square meters at the edge of Namsan in Hoehyeon-dong, across from the headquarters of Shinsegae Department Store.

Both companies hoped to wow CEOs and real estate professionals, and the lavish opening of the tower Thursday certainly succeeded.

Just a quick glance at the floor plan was enough to anticipate leisure mixed with work, offering facilities that include a much-touted gentlemen’s club, a rooftop garden, a gym, lounges, and meeting rooms to impress even the stuffiest of CEOs looking for sophisticated office space in Seoul’s downtown area.

The real treat is for the eyes, with cutting edge designs on every surface of its 26 floors. The interior’s sleek contemporary look is picture-perfect, straight from the pages of stylish magazines such as Wallpaper. The grandiose lobby, covered in black marble, is set to impress those entering the coolest addition to architecture in Seoul.

The bells and whistles of the State Tower cater to visitors as much as the well-heeled prospective occupants. This is where the downtown hotel comes into play.

Management of all the non-office facilities, like the gym, restaurants, bars, a spa treatment salon, a barbershop, and especially the rooms for out-of-town guests is outsourced to the five-star hotel to ensure a similar, superior level of hospitality.

The gentlemen’s club, called The State Room, is also subjected to the same management and is located on the top floor. The promoters at the opening as well as the official press release heavily advertised this feature, claiming the space would become a socially exclusive meeting place for VVIPs and compared it to the age-old gentlemen’s clubs found in London’s exclusive St. James district.

In principle, discussing business matters is actually frowned upon if not expressly forbidden in these English clubs, reflecting the belief that these spaces should be reserved for social pleasures only. That has prevented nobody from following that model to attract those looking for prestige, and the State Tower is no exception here.

Price details for the floor space or State Room membership are yet to be publicly released. The tower is to begin accepting tenants shortly, and the club is operating on a dry run basis until the official opening in October.