From residential and commercial interiors to exhibition planning and remodeling

Interior design group Koo Hyun

The interior design group, located in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (CEO Hyun chae), is a company that has built a reputation by carrying out a number of various projects with its expertise, experience, and outstanding construction capabilities. Koo Hyun not only does residential and commercial interiors, but also exhibition planning and remodeling. 

After majoring in theater and film, CEO Chae worked as a musical actor for about 5 years at Daehangno, Seoul. He said, “But the stage design caught my eye more than the actors. I started studying design because I wanted to make the stage look better.” He worked for two years at a design company and was recognized for his skills to the extent that he was appointed the head of a division. After that, he set up his own business Koo Hyun to do what he wanted to do. The design pursued by Koo Hyun is a harmony of new creativity and brand-new. It uses forward-looking technology, is inclusive in design, and pursues the realization of negative design and conservation of nature. He is demonstrating his competence by applying the know-how accumulated over 10 years.  

Customer satisfaction as top priority

Transparent architectural platform

In addition to professionalism, Koo Hyun’s greatest strength is his pursuit of customer-centered design. When designing commercial space interiors such as coffee shops, clothing stores, and restaurants, the company even provides consulting in connection with accounting firms according to customer needs. The company also provides lifetime maintenance service for as long as the client stays there. CEO Chae said, “I once received a call from a customer saying that his life changed after our service. And was greatly rewarded by these words.”

What Koo Hyun pursues is to realize what customers want into reality and to make it with higher quality and completeness. The company always puts clients first for this reason. If more days are required for construction, the company asks for the client’s understanding but does not charge additional costs. Even after the work is finished, the company works again if there is a request from the client and the corrections are possible. To that end, Koo Hyun takes on the job after judging whether they can meet the client’s request in the first place. CEO Chae said, “If you sign a contract because you are greedy for money, eventually accidents will happen. So I tell my staff that we add our design to what our clients want, and we cannot force them to do it our way.” For this reason, the company checks client’s needs as much as possible for satisfactory results. He said “There is power in space. Even if you design the same space for the same money, the space varies depending on the designer’s capabilities. Whether it is a client or an employee, I want to improve people’s quality of life through design.” In recognition of this, Koo Hyun received the Herald’s CEO prize at the 2022 Innovation Winner. He said “Our motto is to make a space a place that improves people’s life and delivers new vitality and energy to them. We are ready to change the lives of our clients.” 

▲ Koo Hyun / CEO Hyun Chae

Development beyond buildings to commercial districts

People-first development company: Build Planet

CEO Chae provides a solution that can create a profit structure by taking on worn-out buildings and land without buildings along with design requirements. To this end, he established Build Planet Co., Ltd., which provides a plan to develop the commercial district beyond buildings.

He said, “After all, it is the absolute duty of a developer to make the neighborhood clean, secure, and transport convenient.” However, development does not always go in the right direction. This is because it is common to find that strange sculptures are placed regardless of increasing the value of buildings or commercial districts. In order to change this phenomenon, he established Build Planet with the goal of developing people’s lives first. Build Planet seeks real estate developers who increase the value of commercial districts through buildings. It is not simply about how much profit is made, but what kind of building to build with what design, and also the development of the commercial area around the building. He expressed his belief that he would pursue a development that anyone could be satisfied with through proactive communication and engagement with clients.