Wooden louvres mask the facade of this apartment block in South Korea by local studio Smart Architecture.

Made from Japanese cedar, the screens wrap the south and east elevations of the four-storey building, which contains an office on the ground floor and seven apartments above.

Hinged shutters fold out from the wooden cladding to reveal windows in the walls behind.

Two of the apartments have balconies that are also concealed behind the louvres.

Residents enter on the east side of the building, where a concrete staircase flanked by vertical wires leads to the front door of each apartment.

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Photography is by Jung-sik, Mun.

Here's some more text from Smart Architecture:

Louver Haus is the multi-household building which was built for lease profit. It is located in high density housing areas in Sangdong, Su Seong-gu, Daegu (metropolis in Korea). Suseong Pond which is one of the large-scale open spaces in Daegu, is near the south of site, and also Dae-duck mountain standing over this area.

This building consists of 7 households. 6 households face south, and one household overlooking north is designed the open plan of duplex type.

The whole building's external facing is finished using outside heat-insulation wall methed, and the finishing of walls adjacent to the road is red cryptomeria horizontal louvers.

Particularly, louver windows can open and shut. So, energy-saving effect, sunshine control and privacy protection are possible. And, the ways to use louver windows create multiple facade variation.

A vertical wire handrail and skylight mingled, which set the scene for special atmosphere.

Project title: Louver Haus

Architects: Smart Architecture (Gun-cheol, Kim, Sung-hoon, Heo)

Location: 389-10, Sang-dong, Susung-gu, Daegu, South Korea

Project area: 400 sqm

Project year: 2012

Site plan – click above for larger image

Ground floor plan – click above for larger image

First floor plan – click above for larger image

Second floor plan – click above for larger image

Third floor plan – click above for larger image

Section – click above for larger image

South elevation – click above for larger image

East elevation – click above for larger image